Hair-raising truth in numbers game
The annual Global Liveability Index didn’t give Darwin a look in – the problem might be that too many southerners still think the NT is a barren wasteland perpetually stuck in the 1980s
IT’S a heartbreak I’ve endured too many times.
I think I’ve finally found the One – they’re respectful, competent, great with their hands and masterful at conversation.
But just when I’ve become attached and have given myself permission to trust again, they stop answering my calls. Sometimes there isn’t even a goodbye.
“Pam’s gone – she and her husband moved to Lismore last month. We can book you in with Kelly on Tuesday.”
But Kelly is a butcher in black leggings who talks way too much about MasterChef.
I am a talisman of good fortune for hairdressers.
As soon as I find one I like, their partner will immediately be offered a fabulously paid job interstate.
In notoriously transient Darwin, the problem is amplified because 100 per cent of hairdressers are married to defence force personnel or tradies, professions with an average posting length around the time equal to a deep conditioning treatment.
The Sunday Territorian today revealed hairdressers are one of a few dozen occupations which will be offered financial incentives to come – and stay in – the Territory by the Government.
They’re on a list which includes fridgies, pilots, chefs, Aboriginal health care workers and forklift drivers.
While it’s a shame print journalists didn’t make the list of “high-priority skilled occupations”, it’s fantastic news for my hair and for the Territory.
When this influx of hairdressers makes it north – and they’ve recovered from the shock from seeing the havoc the humidity has wreaked on their hair – they’ll find a thriving and welcoming community that is chuffed to have them.
The Economist’s annual Global Liveability Index this week again placed Melbourne and Sydney at the pointy end of the list of the world’s best cities.
Apparently having a property market that would make an extortionist blush and a night scene with more rules than a Gorman buy, swap and sell Facebook page are all can- celled out by virtue of an opera house and some flash private schools.
Anyone who has had the unfortunate experience of living in those cities but outside of their inner suburbs knows just how unfriendly they can be.
Adelaide and Brisbane are somewhere further down in the mix while Darwin didn’t rate a mention at all from the boffins at The Economist.
Presumably, the algorithm used to determine the placings puts a heavy weight on its hairdresser stability index, because that’s one of the only advantages those cities have had over Darwin since our city’s baristas upped their game.
The Government will this week unveil its long-awaited masterbrand and population strategies.
With our population growth teetering at the edge of decline, it will need bigger ideas than just financial incentives for cooks and hairdressers – and will need to be more than just a three-word slogan.
Research done by creative firm The Royals for the masterbrand found people living in the southern states believed the Territory was a barren wasteland perpetually stuck in the 1980s.
Combating that misconception and getting the right people to take the leap to move here will be a big task.
Earlier this year, Chief Minister Michael Gunner gave a speech in which he singled out young professional women as one of the demographic groups which would be most central to getting the Territory’s economy back on track.
Historically, when a bloke makes an impassioned plea for me to stick around, I take it as my cue to get a new postcode.
But Darwin’s charms and liveability mean I – and many of my friends – couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
With a stable hairdressing workforce, perhaps others will feel the same.
Hayley Sorensen is a regular columnist with the
“Adelaide and Brisbane are somewhere further down in the mix while Darwin didn’t rate a mention at all from the boffins at The Economist”