By Alesha Capone
Wyndham has the second-fastest growing population in the nation, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The ABS last month released data showing that Wyndham’s population increased by 5.9 per cent during 2019.
The municipality grew from 255,267 residents in 2018 to 270,487 residents in 2019.
This included 4039 births, 4689 overseas migrants and 6392 people who moved to Wyndham, from other parts of Australia.
The ABS list for municipal population growth was topped by Camden in New South Wales, where the population grew by 7.9 per cent in 2019.
Wyndham mayor Josh Gilligan said the municipality’s booming population meant the state and federal governments needed to step up their spending on essential infrastructure for the region.
“This is precisely why I will keep talking about why we need to be building a liveable city,” he said.
“Federal government rakes in the taxes, the state holds all the responsibility and local government is left with all the problems.”
According to Wyndham council, around one in five residents has English ancestry and 20.3 per cent have Australian ancestry.
In addition, 12.6 per cent have Indian ancestry, 6.3 per cent have Chinese ancestry, 6.2 per cent have Irish ancestry, 5.2 have Scottish ancestry, 5.1 per cent have Italian ancestry and 3.5 per cent have Filipino ancestry.
More than 52 per cent of Wyndham residents were born in Australia, while 10.3 per cent were born in India and 3.5 per cent in New Zealand.
Out of Wyndham’s residents who were born in India, Punjabi is the most commonly spoken language in their homes (spoken in 28 per cent of homes), followed by Hindi (25 per cent), Gujarati (11 per cent) and Telugu (10 per cent).
