The data continues to support it but renowned demographer Bernard Salt confirmed it when he addressed a business breakfast at Farm World - Warragul-Drouin is the fastest growing town in Australia.
In an analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data in April last year, Mr Salt announced the twin towns headed a list of the top 40 growth towns.
But 12 months on, Mr Salt said data released on March 27 showed Warragul-Drouin topped the list of Australia's 50 growth towns, making it Australia's "fastest growing town."
"I call Warragul-Drouin a tradie town. It offers lifestyle, it offers quality of life and it offers affordable housing," he said.
Executive director of The Demographic Group, Mr Salt was guest speaker at the business breakfast hosted by CommBank which focused on Gippsland growth - reviving regions and future fortunes.
Listing Warragul-Drouin as one town was an ABS "urban area measure" that grouped close urban clusters to provide fair comparisons.
ABS figures for the past 10 years - 2013 to-2023 - revealed Warragul-Drouin's population had increased by 41 per cent to 45,597, a scale not matched anywhere else in Australia.
If Gippsland was a town, Mr Salt it would rank as the 11th largest town in Australia.
Mr Salt said Gippsland was growing in popularity as a "lifestyle area," becoming particularly attractive for people moving to the area in a "relentless pursuit of lifestyle."
He said data showed some Melbourne residents between the ages of 46 and 61 reconsidered their priorities and many moved to Gippsland.
A snapshot of Gippsland's job and professional data over the past five years showed care services including aged care and nursing had increased 11 per cent.
Mr Salt said employment in the aged and disabled care sector was the fastest growing job in Gippsland. "There's an aged care freight train heading for Gippsland," he said.
Highlighting local initiatives and assets that were a measure of a region's success, Mr Salt said from what he had seen on many visits to the Warragul-Drouin area, he believed it was a "galvanised community" made up of people invested in its community.
Other important assets include health and hospitals, affordable housing, a logistics hub, industrial base, conference facility and arts/cultural centre.
Mayor Danny Goss said as a growth area, the shire was lacking infrastructure. "What can we do to let the politicians know we need infrastructure?"
Mr Salt encouraged council to produce the numbers and the matrix and to "say it again, and again, and again."
"You need to have a narrative that everyone is on board with. If the entire community is united then it's easier for politicians to get you're back," he said.
On a lighter note, Mr Salt shared some of his demographic inspired acronyms: PUMCINS - professional urban middle class in nice suburbs; and, KIPPERS - kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings.