The pandemic accelerated an existing trend, one which saw people, businesses and infrastructure focusing more attention outside the major capital cities.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reports that regional Queensland’s population growth in 2020-21 was 24,100, while cities Sydney and Melbourne experienced population decline.
Louise Martin-Chew has been a freelance writer since 1992, and writes regularly for Art Collector, Art Monthly, Art Guide Australia, VAULT, Artist Profile and other publications. In 2019 she was awarded the John Oxley Fellowship by State Library of Queensland. Her biography Fiona Foley Provocateur: An Art Life (published QUT Art Museum, 2021) was shortlisted for the 2022 Magarey Medal. She is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Queensland and is Brisbane-based.
