Toowoomba Regional Council is committed to delivering community-building projects while lending its voice to advocacy work helping local governments across Australia fight for, and receive, a fairer share of vital infrastructure funding.

We are determined to seize on the opportunities that will help us deliver essential services and lifestyle features across our towns, our city and our Region.

Gaining a fairer portion of the financial pie will ensure our communities continue to be places where ambition meets opportunity.

Council is responsible for managing an asset base of more than $7 billion, which highlights the extent of the financial task before us.

Our financial management will continue to focus on balancing affordability for residents while delivering essential services. Council’s current credit rating of Sound with a Neutral outlook is assessed by Queensland Treasury Corporation, with the annual review currently in progress. The 2024-2025 results place Council in a strong position to maintain this rating.

After becoming the first local authority in Queensland to implement the new State financial sustainability framework in September 2023, it is pleasing to report that we received an unmodified audit on our current year financial sustainability ratios from the Queensland Audit Office. Council’s long term sustainability statement indicates we remain sustainable as we plan for the future.

Council recorded a $639,000 net operating surplus, partly due to the pre-payment of half of the 2025- 2026 Financial Assistance Grant from the Australian Government, in addition to achieving a raft of savings across the organisation.

Despite many competing demands, this achievement ensures Council retains a long-term financially sustainable outlook which gives business and industry the confidence to invest in our diverse Regional economy and support our jobs market into the future.

While recording a surplus was a welcome result, it again showed how reliant local authorities are on inconsistent grant payments to fund vital projects.

It reinforces our call for fair, timely and untied funding from the State and Australian Governments to help us deliver the services and facilities that our growing communities demand and deserve.

Local governments across Australia face immense pressures to balance growth with liveability, while managing ageing infrastructure across vast road, wastewater and water networks.

We are no different in this regard, as we look to manage similar demands across our infrastructure networks, including a Council network of nearly 6,700km of sealed and unsealed roads.

The requirement to complete the Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement Project places additional pressures on our capacity to upgrade existing, ageing infrastructure.

We’ve always said we can afford to complete the Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement Project, however, without significant state and federal government funding it is having a detrimental effect on our ability to deliver other important community projects.

This situation highlights that a review of funding for local government is needed urgently. The infrastructure funding cliff that has been mentioned for some time is here.

One of the most significant milestones in the reporting period was the announcement that our Region will play a pivotal role in the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We are incredibly excited to be chosen as the official host of the equestrian events at the Toowoomba Showgrounds.

This opportunity not only places our Region on the global stage, but promises to bring substantial economic, social, and cultural benefits to our community. Our teams are already working hard to prepare, ensuring that our infrastructure and services are ready to welcome the world’s best athletes and visitors.

While we are excited to be a Brisbane 2032 venue, we must never forget that this dream began when the South East Queensland Council of Mayors came together with a vision to fast track the infrastructure our growing communities need. That vision still drives us today as we advocate for better transport connections, including future passenger rail between Toowoomba and Brisbane.

Our signature tourism event, the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers continues to prosper. In 2024, the event drew a record 470,000 visitors (which was up 12% on the 2023 figures) and injected more than $29 million into our state’s economy (a 19% increase on the 2023 figures). The 2024 event also achieved 149,538 visitor nights, which was a 9% increase on the 2023 figures. 

In other positive economic news, our Region’s employment figures increased by 11,700 people in the reporting period, representing a 14.3% increase over the year, compared with 3.1% annual employment growth for Queensland. Our Region’s unemployment rate decreased to 2.7%, the third lowest in Queensland (down 1.1 percentage points), compared with Queensland’s annual unemployment rate of 4%.

This was complemented by a net increase of 545 registered businesses.

Council highlighted its support for local businesses and job creation by spending $194.3 million with Toowoomba Region suppliers in 2024-2025.

Council substantially completed its 2022 Flood Recovery Program, at a cost of approximately $300 million, which was jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments’ Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA). The Program delivered repairs to more than 1,500 roads and replaced 119 damaged culverts and floodways across the Toowoomba Region.

We allocated $159 million to local suppliers and contractors as part of our 2022 Flood Recovery Program, highlighting our commitment to support our business community.

Along with much of southern Queensland, our disaster preparedness was tested in March 2025 by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which affected parts of our Region. While the storm brought significant wind, rainfall and disruption, I am proud of the way our community and Council staff responded.

Through the combined efforts of emergency services, local businesses and volunteers, we have been able to recover quickly. The resilience of our community continues to shine brightly in the face of adversity, and I extend my gratitude to everyone who played a role in our recovery efforts.

I convey my thanks to Councillors for their dedication and passion with which they serve our community.

I also thank all staff who delivered essential services right across our Region despite uncertainty relating to changes in leadership.

This dedication was epitomised by the fact that staff completed 93% of actions that were required under our Operational Plan. This is a commendable achievement.

I acknowledge the service of former CEO Brian Pidgeon who retired in January 2025 after more than 12 years in the role and 46 years in local government.

I also acknowledge Council’s Executive Leadership Team who served in the Acting CEO role before the appointment of our Interim CEO, former Brisbane City Council CEO, Colin Jensen.

Mr Jensen guided the organisation across four months in readiness for the arrival of our new CEO, Sal Petroccitto OAM, who has more than 30 years’ executive leadership experience across public and private sectors with a focus on delivering cultural transformation and strategic outcomes in complex environments.

We live in an amazing place where we celebrate 36 towns and Australia’s largest inland city apart from Canberra, all of which contribute to a diverse, productive and attractive Region where ambition meets opportunity

Mayor Geoff McDonald