Queensland most popular destination for people moving to Australia

November 27 2009 by Liam Clifford

Queensland the preferred choice for migrants moving to Australia.

New figures show that a fifth of all the people who choose to move to Australia decide to settle in Queensland.

The State Treasury figures show that 50 per cent of the region’s population growth is accounted for by immigration, as opposed to 20 per cent growth from among Australian citizens. Some 21,200 people move to Queensland each year from other Australian states, while a record 50,000 foreign Australian visa holders move to Queensland.

Most migrants in the region are skilled, educated people who come to work and move to Australia. However, a record number of student visa holders have also moved to Queensland in the past year, with 72,500 enrolling in the year to the end of June.

Although New Zealanders account for the largest proportion of Queensland’s immigrants, the British are the second largest group present in the area.

Anne Bigh, the Queensland premier, says that the region’s development economically has been down to population growth in recent years. However, she says that regional areas would benefit by introducing measures to attract some of the people who settle in Queensland to settle in more rural areas instead – thus spreading the ‘wealth’ brought to Australia by the skilled immigrants moving to Australia.

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