Aussie town offers $20,000 for people to move in
An outback Queensland town is so keen to get new residents that it’s offering people $20,000 to move in.
The catch? You’ll have to live in the middle of a partial desert.
The new scheme aims to grow the population of the Quilpie Shire, located 1000 km west of Brisbane and close to the Northern Territory border, by 20 per cent from around 800 residents to 1000.
“We were the first council in Outback Queensland to introduce such a policy, and it was a huge success – we had interest from all around Australia as well as globally from the US, India and Ireland,” Quilpie Shire Council CEO Justin Hancock told the Western Times.
“Our new $20,000 grant will cover most of the price of their land if they build and live on it.”
The Shire council first introduced the Home Owner Grant in 2021, with the initial limit of $12,500. But the rise in land value led to an increase in the grant as well.
“You would be hard pressed to find a better deal anywhere in Australia,” Hancock said in 2021.
“Depending on the cost of the land chosen, it can equate to us essentially giving land away,” he said.
The original grant has already resulted in seven blocks of land sold on a new estate that’s developing the town’s south.
People who receive the grant will have to build a home valued at less than $750,000 and live in it for at least six months, with the grant limited to new homeowners.
The Quilpie Shire’s economy is mostly based on farming and mining, with some of the world’s largest deposits of boulder opals.
There are two small supermarkets in town, a regional hospital, a couple of schools, and a few culinary options offered at the Imperial Hotel and Old Empire Café.
For those who require travel, there are two weekly flights which connect Quilpie with Brisbane.
Quilpie Shire mayor Stuart Mackenzie has said that despite a recent baby boom with some of their existing residents, they hope to see new people move in to help them support their goal.
“As a friendly community we look forward to welcoming any new residents into the shire,” he said.
Image: news.com.au, Leon O'Neil