MELBOURNE, Australia — From the air, the tiny outback town of Quilpie, Queensland, appears to be in the middle of nowhere. It lies on dusty land the color of rust. About 20 kangaroos sometimes take up residence on the school lawn. Summer temperatures can reach 113 degrees Fahrenheit. The nearest city is a 10-hour drive away.

澳洲墨爾本——從空中看，昆士蘭州的內陸小鎮奎爾皮似乎是個荒無人煙的地方。它坐落在銹色的塵土地上。大約有20頭袋鼠有時候會在學校的草坪上棲息。夏天的溫度可以達到約45攝氏度。距離最近的城市車程10個小時。

But Quilpie suddenly found itself the object of global desire recently when it unveiled a plan to combat a housing shortage and lure new residents by offering “free” plots of land.

但奎爾皮最近突然成了全球渴望的對象，因為它公布了一項計劃，通過提供「免費」土地來解決住房短缺問題並吸引新居民。

Officials initially had a modest vision, hoping that five new homes would be built in the town of 575 people. But in the two weeks since the word went out on Oct. 11 via local news media, Quilpie (pronounced QUIL-pee) has received more than 300 inquiries, officials said, including from as far away as Hong Kong and Europe.

官員們最初的設想很簡單，希望在這個575人的小鎮上建造五套新房。但官員們說，自從10月11日通過當地新聞媒體發布消息以來，兩週之內，奎爾皮已經收到300多件諮詢，有的還來自遙遠的香港和歐洲。

The flood of inquiries from home and abroad was a testament to the desperation of Australians who fear homeownership is becoming increasingly out of reach, and to the global crunch in affordable housing.

來自國內外的大量徵詢證明了澳洲人的絕望，他們擔心擁有住房變得越來越遙不可及，也證明了全球可負擔住房的緊縮。

“It’s been quite incredible,” Justin Hancock, the chief executive of the Quilpie Shire Council, who came up with the plan, said about the interest the scheme has drawn. “Some people are just calling up because they’ve heard ‘free land.’”

「太不可思議了，」提出該計劃的奎爾皮郡議會議長賈斯汀·漢考克(Justin Hancock)在談到該計劃引起的興趣時說。「有些人只因為聽到『免費土地』這個詞就打電話過來。」

Yes, there is fine print: New homeowners would have to pay $12,500 upfront for a plot — but if they built a house there and lived in it for more than six months, they would receive a refund on the land value.

是的，還有一些細則：新房主必須為一塊地預付1.25萬美元（約合8萬人民幣）——但如果他們在那裡建了房子並居住超過六個月，他們將獲得地價的退款。

Mr. Hancock’s idea is a merger of two forces seen the world over: the need to find cheap housing and the push by small or waning towns to expand or inject new life into their communities.

漢考克是想把世界上的兩股力量結合起來：尋找廉價住房的需求，以及較小或衰敗的城鎮尋求擴張或為社區注入新生命的動力。

Some picturesque towns and villages in Italy made international headlines by giving away dilapidated houses for a mere 1 euro in an attempt at revitalization. The city of Gary, Ind., too, sold abandoned houses for $1 to those willing to fix them up.

為了復興，義大利一些風景如畫的城鎮和村莊將破舊的房屋以1歐元的價格出售，成為了國際新聞。印第安納州加里市也以1美元的價格將廢棄房屋出售給願意修繕的人。

In Australia, two of the biggest cities — Sydney and Melbourne — are also two of the most expensive housing markets in the world. House prices have soared during the coronavirus pandemic, rising 11 times as fast as wage growth over the past year, according to an analysis from CoreLogic, a property data company. Sydney’s median house price is $1.3 million.

雪梨和墨爾本是澳洲最大的兩個城市，也是世界上最昂貴的兩個房地產市場。房地產數據公司CoreLogic的分析顯示，在新冠疫情期間，房價飆升，漲幅是過去一年工資漲幅的11倍。雪梨的房價中位數達到130萬美元（約合830萬人民幣）。

Quilpie, which is 543 miles west of Brisbane and whose primary industries are agriculture and mining, has struggled to get homes built because of a combination of factors. Banks require higher deposits on mortgage loans in regional Australia than in the cities, and the region has had a shortage of tradespeople, according to Mr. Hancock.

奎爾皮位於布里斯本以西約870公里，主要產業是農業和礦業，受各種因素的影響，這裡的房屋建設一直很困難。漢考克說，在澳洲鄉村，銀行對抵押貸款的存款要求高於城市，而且該地區一直缺少工匠。

Mr. Hancock said he came up with the housing plan to address the shortage. While he doesn’t expects all 300 inquiries to translate into plots of land sold, he estimates that 15 to 20 buyers are seriously considering the offer.

漢考克說，他提出這個住房計劃是為了解決住房短缺問題。雖然他並不指望這300個詢問都能轉化為土地出售，但他估計有15至20個買家正在認真考慮這個報價。

Because the pandemic is not over — Queensland’s borders are closed to other Australians, and international visitors are barred from entering the country — prospective buyers may need to wait a few months to visit the town.

由於疫情尚未結束——昆士蘭州的邊境對其他澳洲人關閉，國際遊客也被禁止進入該國——潛在的買家可能需要等幾個月才能來這個鎮子。

But for those thinking of moving to Quilpie, the town offers a free swimming pool, a 24-hour gym, two grocery stores and a lake. It’s known for its opal mines, and the bones of some of Australia’s largest dinosaurs have been unearthed on its outskirts. Cultural events happen nearly every weekend, Mr. Hancock said, including “opera in the outback,” horse races and triathlons.

但是對於想搬到奎爾皮的人，小鎮提供了一個免費游泳池、一個24小時健身房、兩家雜貨店和一個湖。該鎮以蛋白石礦而聞名，郊區還出土了一些澳洲最大的恐龍骨骼。漢考克說，幾乎每個週末都有文化活動，包括「內陸歌劇」、賽馬和鐵人三項。

Robina Meehan, 41, put in an offer on one of the plots even before she knew about the refund because, she said, “even $12,500 seemed too good not to take up.”

41歲的羅比娜·米漢(Robina Meehan)早在知道還有退款這回事之前，就已經出價買下了其中一塊地，她說，「就算是1.25萬美元也好到讓人無法拒絕。」

There’s a freedom and self-sufficiency to living in a rural town that you can’t find in the city, Ms. Meehan said.

米漢說，生活在鄉村小鎮有一種自由和自足的感覺，在城市裡是找不到的。

“Here, you can drill a bore, light a fire, kill a cow to eat,” she said. “Whereas, in the city, you can’t do any of that. You can just plant a little garden full of lettuce.”

「在這裡，你可以打一口井，點一團火，殺頭牛吃，」她說。「可是在城市裡，你什麼都不能做。頂多在花園裡種種生菜。」

Ms. Meehan moved to Quilpie with her husband and two children 18 months ago from their farm in New South Wales. It was supposed to be temporary, but became longer term after many cities were placed into lockdown.

18個月前，米漢與丈夫和兩個孩子從新南威爾斯州的農場搬到了奎爾皮。這本該是暫時的，但在許多城市被封鎖後，居住變成了長期。

“To get here costs money, and maybe your groceries cost more because of inflation,” she added. “But life’s so simple. Living is so simple.”

 「到這裡來要花錢，也許是因為通貨膨脹，生活雜物的成本更高，」她補充說。「但是這裡的生活太簡單了。活著就是這麼簡單。」

Tom Hennessy, 24, who recently bought a plot with his fiancée, Tessa McDougall, said in a recent phone interview: “There’s no place you’d rather raise a kid and start a family. It’s quiet, everyone knows each other, if something’s wrong half the town puts their hands up to help.”

24歲的湯姆·亨尼西(Tom Hennessy)最近和未婚妻泰莎·麥克杜格爾(Tessa McDougall)在這裡買了一塊地，前不久，他在接受電話採訪時說：「這裡太適合撫養孩子、組建家庭了。這裡很安靜，大家都互相認識，如果出了什麼問題，鎮上一半的人都會過來幫忙。」

Referring to his friends who rent in cities, he said, “It sort of makes you feel like we’re going to be getting a head start on our friends the same age as us who probably won’t be able to own their own homes for a while.”

談到那些在城市租房的朋友，他說：「這讓你感覺我們會比同齡的朋友領先一步，他們可能在一段時間內都無法擁有自己的房子。」

The locals aren’t the only creatures who find Quilpie appealing, he said: Wildlife often wanders into town.

他說，不只是住在本地的人覺得奎爾皮很有魅力：野生動物也經常來到鎮上遊盪。

“There’s kangaroos and emus everywhere,” he said. “At the school Tessa teaches at, I think there were 20 ’roos living on the lawn.”

「到處都是袋鼠和鴯鶓，」他說。「在泰莎任教的學校，我覺得草地上住著大概足有20頭袋鼠。」