People & Places
NSW: More than just Sydney
Discovered by Captain Cook in 1770, Australia’s oldest state attracts Brits with its cosmopolitan city life and scenery. It is a state with far more to offer than Sydney says Kate Baddeley
From the rolling surf of Byron Bay to the spectacular forests of the South Coast it's not hard to see the appeal of emigrating to this diverse state. People living in New South Wales (NSW) enjoy a very high quality of living. The 'Premier State', as NSW is aptly dubbed, is home to Australia's largest city, Sydney, which shared eighth place out of 215 cities in the Worldwide Quality of Life Index compiled by Mercer Human Resource Consulting in 2005.
Sydney's cultural diversity has produced a society that is creative, open and friendly. Sydney offers a secure environment for families, with excellent infrastructure in health care, education, transport and telecommunications.
But there's more to NSW than Sydney. Regional NSW offers many lifestyle advantages for business people and their families, including a relaxed environment and friendly communities. The growing population of large inland centres like Wagga Wagga, Dubbo and Tamworth, and coastal cities such as Newcastle, Wollongong and Coffs Harbour, have turned these towns into bustling centres that boast all the cosmopolitan influences, sporting, entertainment and leisure activities of any growing city.
The lifestyle of New South Wales (NSW) is similar to the lifestyles of North America and Europe, which eases the transition for skilled migrants who choose to relocate there. NSW has a sophisticated, modern economy and the cost of living in the State reflects that. A seperate survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting in 2005 found that Sydney sits in 20th place out of 144 cities for cost of living.
Since the 2000 Sydney Olympics the property market has boomed in NSW, there has been an icrease in development and there is a vast array of houses and appartments available. Getting around NSW by road is easy – there are excellent freeways between major centres and scenic routes are often sign-posted to encourage picturesque detours. In NSW there are just over 2,100 public schools, including primary and high schools. Almost one in six of NSW's population in the 15 to 64 age bracket has a bachelor's degree or higher and 46 per cent have post-school qualifications.
Leisure and Lifestyle
NSW is a culturally sophisticated state where leisure pursuits can range from the active – sailing, swimming, bushwalking, surfing and more – to the cultural: live theatre, galleries and museums.
The weather in New South Wales is temperate enough to allow a year-round outdoor lifestyle. The further north you travel in the state the more temperate the weather becomes, while the further inland you travel the hotter and drier it gets. However, NSW's two mountain ranges – the Blue Mountains and the Snowy Mountains – experience very cold weather and it snows every year in the Snowies.
There are many excellent local and indoor sporting facilities in every town and in most areas of NSW. The most popular spectator sports in the state include rugby league, Australian football and rugby union. Soccer is growing in popularity as a spectator and participation sport. All football codes have amateur leagues, and participation in these weekend sports is high. 'Footie season' runs from February to September.
In the Australian summer, cricket is the game of choice – at least to watch. Another popular sport is tennis. The most popular women's sport is netball – with many women participating in this game during the winter months.
Water activities of every kind are very popular in NSW; the coastal areas of NSW has some of the best swimming and surfing beaches you'll find anywhere in the world with clean, sparkling blue water and minimal pollution. NSW's coastal waters are warm enough for swimming from September to May. You'll find you can swim, kayak and surf just about anywhere in the State. Sailing is also popular and accessible – yacht charter companies are dotted along the coast and in the state's spectacular waterways.
Sydney is a dynamic cultural centre that has a rich year-round programme of worldclass performances, outdoor events and festivals that make the city's outdoor and cultural lifestyle unique. Many of the music, food and wine festivals in NSW attract an international following, such as the famous Tamworth Country Music Festival. Quality of dishes and value for money are standard in NSW. Most town centres have Thai, Indian, Italian and Chinese restaurants and you'll usually find somewhere that offers freshly caught, beautifully cooked, seafood. In regions like the Hunter Valley, the Riverina region in the south-west of the State, and the central western wine hubs of Orange, Mudgee and Cowra, you'll find worldclass wines.
The NSW economy
The NSW economy is Australia's largest. In 2004–05, NSW accounted for 34.3 per cent of national output, 33.4 per cent of the nation's population and accounts for 35% of the nations GDP. NSW's Gross State Product (GSP) per capita in 2004-05 was $45,254, higher than the rest of Australia's which was $43,532.
In 2004–05, the industries with the largest shares of income and employment in NSW were: property and business services, finance and insurance, manufacturing, retail trade and construction. Over the past decade the service orientation of the NSW economy has continued to increase, with strong growth in the property and business services, and the finance and insurance sectors.
Labour intensive tourism related sectors such as accommodation, cafés and restaurants as well as the retail sector have grown considerably in their share of State employment. While the manufacturing sector has declined in relative terms over that time, it remains the largest manufacturing sector in Australia providing over 10 per cent of employment in the state.
Most of the world's top ICT companies in Australia are head quartered or have a major presence in Sydney, including, Hewlett Packard, IBM and Nokia. Specialist ICT businesses employ almost 100,000 people. Leading telecommunications companies based in Sydney include; British Telecom, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone. NSW has a significant pool of digital content talent based in creative industries across a range of companies including; ABC New Media. Sydney is one of the major foreign exchange market places in the world.
Where to live
Real estate prices in Sydney and NSW vary dramatically. NSW was first into the housing boom and the first to feel the after-effects of a slowdown in the property market in terms of housing construction and falling house prices.
Properties located in and around Sydney typically cost far more than those in country areas. Houses in Sydney's top waterside suburbs, such as Mosman and Vaucluse, often fetch up to ten times more than their counterparts in the outer suburbs. An indication of the cost of buying a property is given by the median sales prices – (June quarter, 2005) Sydney AUS$428,000, Inner Sydney AUS$525,000 and for the whole of the states AUS$365,000. Average land values in Sydney increased between six and 18 per cent each year between 1996 and 2005.
Sydney's public transport system is comprehensive; you can travel by bus, train, monorail and light rail around Sydney's centre – and by ferry. To give a general overview, CityRail trains run to Newcastle in the north, to the Blue Mountains through Parramatta in the west, through Campbelltown to Goulburn in the south west, and Wollongong in the south.
Sydney experiences 138 wet days a year with an average annual rainfall of 1,223 millimetres. However, the city is renowned for its sunshine; there's an average of only 23 days a year when the sun doesn't shine, which means there's plentiful opportunities to enjoy the city's 37 beaches, all situated within 30 minutes of the city centre.
Job prospects improve if you head outside of Sydney. Skills are in short supply in the following regions: Central West: (Orange and Bathurst), Hunter Valley, Illawarra, Murray, New England, Orana: (Dubbo), and Riverina (Wagga Wagga). Your hard earned cash also goes a lot further once you're outside of the expensive Sydney suburbs. Riverina encompasses the middle and lower reaches of the Murrumbidgee River Valley of South-Eastern Australia. Stretching some 500 kilometres east to west from the alpine peaks of Kosciuzsko National Park in Tumut Shire across the sheep-wheat belt of the South West Slopes.
The riverine plains has an international reputation for food and fibre manufacturing. The region is Australia's largest producer of wine, and boasts an impressive industry base including agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, forestry, education and research and public sector institutions.
The region of Murray straddles the Murray River in southern NSW. The Murray region has enterprises in manufacturing, engineering and computer technology. You'll find forests, wetlands teeming with birdlife, rich agricultural land and busy river towns. Emerging industries include aquaculture, forestry and wood products, while tourism is growing with ski slopes, fishing and water sports.
Dubbo is a large agricultural town, and the commercial capital for the west of the state. A major manufacturing and service centre for food processing, mining and viticulture. The region is a fast growing tourist destination with attractions including Western Plains Zoo and the Lightning Ridge opal mines.
The Central Western region of NSW has a diverse business and industry base consisting of an economy rich in coal, gold, copper, timber and water. Horticulture, dairy farming and viticulture are growing. Two university campuses cement a strong education sector. Orange, the region's major city, offers a cooler climate, over 100 parks and a wealth of gardens. New England provides plenty of opportunity for fishing, friendly country towns, national parks and wide stretches of farmland to explore. Live stock production and breeding, vehicle body and agricultural equipment manufacturing are among the diverse range of industries well represented in New England.
The Illawarra Region lies just an hour south of Sydney, and stretches from the Royal National Park to the Shoalhaven River, and encompasses the city of Wollongong. Originally famed for its coal mining and steal production, this region now boast a lively university, five star hotels, guesthouses, galleries and beautiful beaches. The leading producer of steel and steel products in South East Asia, the region has a wealth of natural resources, as well as manufacturing and engineering industries. The region is emerging as an ICT centre.
Hunter Valley is a food and wine mecca from the relaxing Lake Macquarie, to the buzzing nightlife of Newcastle. The region is made up of elegant heritage towns, ocean beaches, and extensive forests. Newcastle remains the economic and trade centre for the resource-rich Hunter Valley and generates one third of NSW's exports with its chief industries being power generation, coal and mining, the equine industry and winemaking.
Built around a large working harbour, the city boasts some of Australia's best surfing beaches. All year round you can expect great surfing conditions. This coastal lifestyle combined with affordable living makes the city a great place for living, working and playing the Australian way.
Read another article about New South Wales:
The history of Botany Bay
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