Territory the best place for interstaters to take coronavirus refuge
THE coronavirus pandemic has ravaged economies across the globe and up-ended lives but if the Chief Minister’s comments that ‘coronavirus refugees’ are moving to the Territory from southern states are true, the NT may be able to celebrate a small win with a population bump.
Opinion
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THE coronavirus pandemic has ravaged economies across the globe and up-ended lives but if the Chief Minister’s comments that “coronavirus refugees” are moving to the Territory from southern states are true, the NT may be able to celebrate a small win with a population bump.
The trick, as always, would be convincing people to stay, particularly since the term “refugee”, as it is defined, means people will go home once things in their origin jurisdiction calms down.
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Traditionally, the thinking has been create the jobs and the people will come, but with the evolving nature of remote work, the Northern Territory’s biggest attraction is its lifestyle.
Imagine having a job in bitterly cold Victoria but being able to leave the office into the wild backyard of the Territory. Bliss.
Demographers have warned though, as no one yet has hard data, that any changes to the population due to people fleeing pandemic-ravaged states can’t be known for a long time to come.
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It would also be great to find out, possibly through the Census when it happens next year, if this supposed migration of people to escape coronavirus is real because this would mean a once in a century pandemic was more successful at boosting the Territory’s population than the absolute fizzer which was the government’s Boundless Possible campaign.
Partaking in a bit of schadenfreude is healthy, as they say.
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