18th July, 2018
The South Australian government has called for a greater share of Australia’s migrant intake to be directed to the state.
Steven Marshall, Premier of South Australia, on Wednesday revealed that he has lobbied the federal government to grant his state “preferred migrant status’’ to counter its stagnating population growth.
Marshall’s revelation came the day after Matthew Guy, leader of the opposition in the neighbouring state of Victoria, claimed that Melbourne’s rapid population growth left the city “bursting.”
Marshall, who led the SA Liberal Party to a historic election victory in March, used his first meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to address the issue.
“At the moment in Australia we have got a two-speed economy in terms of population.
“You have got some places which are struggling with massive population increases and you have got other parts of the country which have got very, very low population growth.
“We would ultimately like to negotiate a preferential migration status for South Australia, especially around increasing regional population and international students,’’ he stressed.
Australia’s population is expected to hit 25 million in August, well ahead of the schedule laid out by previous projections.
South Australia has had the slowest population growth of any mainland state since 2012, recording a net interstate migration loss of 23,000 people.