It's not Gympie, it's you.
That's what the straight-talking mayor of the growing Queensland region has to say to anyone who doesn't love the town on the fringe of the Sunshine Coast.
"If you can't find a place or a landscape to call home, then it's not about the region," Glen Hartwig told AAP.
You can "scoot" from Gympie across Tin Can Bay to K'gari (formerly Fraser Island), visit villages in the Mary Valley and reach Brisbane international airport in two hours, Mr Hartwig points out.
"It's a country feel and ... genuine people who care for you even if they don't know you.
"If you want Pitt Street in Sydney, that sort of pace, I suggest you stay there."
The regional industrial and energy hub, also known for its Gympie Music Muster festival, has become one of the top five regions in Australia luring new residents from other country towns.
Queensland is leading the pack in enticing tree and sea-changers from both capital cities and regional areas, according to the latest Regional Movers Index.
The Sunshine Coast was the top destination for city escapees in the year to December, though its popularity cooled slightly compared to 2023, the index showed.
The quarterly index is compiled by the Regional Australia Institute using Commonwealth Bank customer data to track the changing demographics of the nation.
Brisbane and Perth were the only capital cities to attract new residents from both other cities and the regions in 2024, while people left Sydney and Melbourne in droves.
The growth of towns like Gympie is part of a sustained pattern of people moving to areas further afield of major regional hubs.
"It's why we must ensure communities have the infrastructure, funding and support they need to ensure they can continue to welcome new residents, the institute's chief executive Liz Ritchie said.
Albany, on WA's south coast, was another regional hotspot off the usual sea-changer track, ranking third in the fastest growing regions, alongside Wingecarribee and Richmond Valley in NSW.
Overall, fewer people made the move to the regions in the December quarter, with migration to the country falling by 11 per cent.
But internal migration of all types was lower, as Australians tend to stay in one place at the end of the year.
Mr Hartwig said Gympie, like all growing regional towns, needed greater support from state and federal governments to improve infrastructure.
The region could then offer housing on generous parcels of land near expanses of nature, he said.
"That's not a lifestyle that everyone gets to have, but with the right investment ... that's what we can give to people."
