Thursday, Mar 01, 2007 at 00:48
And after all the bullcrap here are the facts from a highly respected newspaper the Herald Sun, no mention of that faraway place called WA but they're not really oztralian are they :)
MELBOURNE is closing the
population gap on
Sydney as people continue to flock to the suburbs.
The number of people to call
Melbourne home last financial year increased by 49,000, the nation's fastest growth for a capital and its surrounds.
Most newcomers headed for the western and northern suburbs.
It propelled
Melbourne's
population to 3,684,461 as at June, compared with 4,293,105 in
Sydney, which grew by 37,200.
Victoria's
population hit 5,091,666, up 68,500, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.
Queensland topped the states with a 76,400 increase and NSW was third with 58,800.
Demographer Bernard Salt said
Melbourne was on the road to reclaiming its title of biggest city.
"
Melbourne had been Australia's biggest city for 40 years before Federation when
Sydney got its nose in front," he said.
The report into Australia's
population trends reveals Victoria now boasts 22 people per square kilometre -- the highest density outside the ACT.
A Port Phillip pocket incorporating
St Kilda is the most crowded part of Victoria, with 5700 people per square kilometre.
Council areas Melton (+6814),
Wyndham (+6660), Casey (+6429), Hume (+3979) and Cardinia (+3142) recorded the biggest growth statewide.
Mr Salt said the figures pointed to
Melbourne's
population imbalance between east and west finally being corrected.
"
Melbourne for 150 years has favoured the east and southeast and the city was lopsided as a consequence," he said.
"History may say that between 1995 and 2025 there was a correction in the imbalance as Melburnians filled in the suburban blanks on the western and northern fronts."
Sea-changers continue to flock to Greater
Geelong (+2640) and the Surf Coast (+1105).
Baw Baw (+1107) and
Mansfield (+211) are the second-fastest-growing areas in regional Victoria, while
Mildura,
Bendigo,
Ballarat and Shepparton districts are among Australia's fastest-growing inland regions.
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