Data shows in effect, those of us that are here are opting to stay

ANECDOTALLY there has been much hype about “COVID-19 refugees” fleeing to the Territory

ANECDOTALLY there has been much hype about “COVID-19 refugees” fleeing to the Territory, a place where life is as normal as it can get.

The regional migration data points to the lowest net migration loss for the NT since 2013 and the first net gain for Greater Darwin since 2015.

It doesn’t show that hordes of people are moving here from interstate.

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Arrival numbers are the lowest they’ve been since the ’70s, but correspondingly so are the departure numbers.

In effect, those of us that are here are opting to stay.

Which in itself is great news. For years more people have fled to other jurisdictions than stuck it out here.

Historically, the population in Darwin ebbs and flows with the availability of jobs and data shows we are doing better than the national average in the circumstances.

Aside from better employment prospects, perhaps Territorians realise this is one of the only jurisdictions that has not been hit by a second COVID-19 lockdown.

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There’s also Tasmania, but if you think the real estate market here is tightening up you should see Hobart.

Among all the reasons people could have for choosing to stay, hopefully most roads point to optimism around the state of the economy, which has been infectious of late if the confidence of business and industry leaders is anything to go by.

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