Toowoomba offers a capital city experience in a regional city – Deputy Prime Minister, bring your departments here

The Toowoomba Region’s leaders have a clear message for the Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce and Regional Development Minister Fiona Nash – decentralise your departments, and establish them in the Toowoomba region.

Mayor Paul Antonio is leading a charge to see decentralised government departments set up their base in the burgeoning city.

“Toowoomba Regional Council is a strong advocate for the economic advancement and diversification of regional Australia and the move of State and Commonwealth entities to regional communities would show the government is serious about the growth of regional Australia,” Mayor Antonio said.

“The proposal is a win-win for government - boost employment and economic growth in regional communities whilst achieving operational savings and improved decision-making by immersing departmental staff in local communities.”

Mayor Antonio believes the Toowoomba region’s liveability is one its greatest assets, dubbing it a capital city in a regional community.

“Toowoomba offers remarkable air and road connectivity, affordable housing, strong employment, world-class private hospitals and some of Queensland’s best schools.  Our modern shopping precincts, including a new $500 million shopping centre upgrade by QIC, means we offer professionals and their families an unrivalled balance between lifestyle and opportunity.  

“The Toowoomba Region is known for its rich traditions and bold ambitions and as one of Australia’s most family friendly cities, we were thrilled to recently be recognised by online travel site, Expedia, as the fifth most beautiful place in Australia.”

Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise executive chairman Shane Charles is the man charged with attracting investment to the region and said Toowoomba is well and truly open for business with a mix of private and public investment in the broader region currently totaling $13 billion.

“This signal from the federal government that they are serious about their move toward decentralisation, could mark the next step in unleashing Toowoomba’s potential,” Mr Charles said.

 “We applaud the vision of the federal government to assess how they can relocate their departments to regional areas, and what better place than Toowoomba,” Mr Charles said.

“It’s long been an argument that government departments should move away from Canberra to understand the challenges and opportunities of regional areas.”

TSBE is an independent, business-driven organisation linking companies with opportunity to achieve sustainable growth and diversity from Toowoomba to Roma and the wider regions. “Toowoomba has the connectivity with the Wellcamp airport, the infrastructure with the Toowoomba bypass, and the vision of the Toowoomba Regional Council to make this the region of choice for relocation of departments and portfolios.”

“We are one of the most accessible areas in regional Australia, and the council has long planned for expected population growth with the transformation of the CBD, road network and masterplans of parks, suburbs and precincts.

Mayor Antonio said Toowoomba Regional Council has made a submission to the Australian Senate inquiry on the matter and says the community’s leaders are doing all they can to state the case for Toowoomba.

“We invite the Deputy PM and Minister Nash to town to experience what we can offer. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saw for himself in January what Toowoomba and the wider region can do, and now we want other government Ministers explore the opportunities.”

Mr Charles will be in Canberra during budget week in May to continue talks around decentralisation and how Toowoomba can offer the right mix of regional lifestyle, accessibility and opportunity.