Regional Australia capable of easing nation’s population growth by 6.2 million people

Regional Australia could more than double its population growth within the next three decades, as experts claim an infrastructure push could halt overcrowding in the country’s biggest cities. The 2026 Regional Population Planning report by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has found rural areas could grow by 6.2m people by 2050: more than two and a half times their current national growth. The report said state and federal governments could ease the cost of living for Australia’s growing “megacities” by fixing transport and infrastructure gaps regionally, to allow for a greater flow of migrants both interstate and internationally. Regional Australia is able to more than double its population growth by 2050, potentially able to house 6.2m more people Picture: Cairns, John Kirk Photography/Beyond Images RAI CEO Liz Ritchie said the government assumed four in five of new Aussies would settle in capital cities over the next four decades, which should not be the case. “Our modelling shows that with stronger regional development, regional Australia could account for 38 to 40 per cent of the national population by 2050,” she said. “With a more ambitious nation-building approach, that...