Kirk Yan: Head of Newstarsec Education & Migration’s Melbourne Division, registered Australian migration agent. Kirk brings years of experience and in-depth research in interpreting migration policy and forecasting changes. He is the editor-in-chief of the Australian Migration Weekly and is affectionately known as “K-God” among students.
Last week, the Minister released a press statement announcing that 30,000 New Zealanders have applied for Australian citizenship since the pathway opened.
This was a piece of news that didn’t seem particularly relevant to us, but one figure caught my attention — one-third of the applications came from New Zealanders settled in Queensland (Figure 1).
So New Zealanders are particularly fond of Queensland? It’s more accurate to say that people from all across Australia love Queensland.
Looking at the latest population statistics published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in mid-September, covering data up to March 2023 (the data lags by six months — that’s just Australian pace; you get used to it):
Queensland’s total population exceeded 5.4 million, with a year-on-year increase of 124,000 — a growth rate of 2.3%, ranking third nationally.
While NSW and Victoria mainly attract people from overseas, Queensland — the perennial third — works hard to attract people from the top two states. Interstate migration into Queensland reached 31,000 people. Victoria fared reasonably well, but NSW is steadily being poached — and Western Australia is joining in too (Figure 2).
In terms of net overseas migration, NSW actually exceeds Victoria. However, because NSW loses so many residents interstate, Victoria has gradually overtaken NSW in both overall population growth volume and growth rate (Figure 3).
Combining these two pieces of information also explains why Queensland’s skilled migration programme has always been lukewarm.
Put simply, they have natural advantages and additional sources of population growth.
Climate, geography, and housing prices (compared to NSW and Victoria) are natural drawcards — meaning Queensland doesn’t need to sell itself as aggressively as Tasmania or the ACT.
On top of that foundation, the people moving there can come from all sorts of backgrounds — they don’t necessarily have to be from overseas, and they don’t necessarily need to be without permanent residency.
For example, there are those tired of the congestion in NSW and Victoria, those who can’t cope with Sydney’s property prices, those fed up with the cold in Canberra or Tasmania, and those eyeing the development opportunities around the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
Also, with remote work becoming widespread after the pandemic, Queensland sits on the east coast and isn’t far from Sydney or Melbourne — unlike Western Australia, which can feel quite isolated.
All in all, there are plenty of reasons for people within Australia and from New Zealand to move to Queensland. To use an imperfect analogy, skilled migration may not be the main course for Queensland.
During various occasions last financial year when Queensland state government officials spoke, you could sense their preference for investor migrants. Even this year, with investment visa allocations completely gone, they continued to steadily issue invitations through the SBO (Small Business Owner) pathway. I also recall them saying something along the lines of: “As everyone knows, Queensland attracts a large number of interstate migrants each year,” and so on. Other states like NSW and Victoria rarely make such statements — Queensland’s government clearly understands their unique advantage.
Looking at the long term, the pathway to migrating through Queensland — or studying there and then migrating — still exists, but compared to other states, you need to be more targeted in your choice of study programme and have a stronger competitive edge.
If you have any questions about Australian migration, feel free to add Kirk on WeChat for a consultation.
