Mayor Paul Antonio calls for long-term Toowoomba refugee funding solution from Federal Government

With many refugee support services concerned about funding pathways after June 30, Mayor Paul Antonio has met with federal ministers to secure a long-term solution.

Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio has called on the Federal Government to secure long-term refugee support funding for the region, describing it as essential.

Mr Antonio met with Immigration Minister Alex Hawke and Groom MP Garth Hamilton in Canberra this week to discuss the issue.

It comes a few weeks after support services CatholicCare and Multicultural Australia said their funding that was secured in 2018 by then-MP John McVeigh was about to end.

The organisations offer services and opportunities to the city’s 2100 refugees and migrants, a large chunk of which had arrived in the past three years as part of the Yazidi community.

Mr Antonio said prior funding arrangements had failed to grasp the scale and complexity of the city’s refugee needs, especially in relation to the Yazidi population.

“There’s been a significant misunderstanding in regard to where Toowoomba is and the role that we’re playing, particularly with rehoming and housing the Yazidi cohort from the Middle East,” he said.

“I had 15 minutes or so with Alex Hawke, the immigration minister, and he is right over it and is certainly interested in helping us.

“There isn’t another place in Australia that’s more welcoming of refugees than Toowoomba and the important thing is we’ve got to know we’re well-resourced.”

Mr Antonio said the Yazidi refugee community, having escaped a genocide being committed by terror group ISIS in Iraq and Syria, needed a more sophisticated funding arrangement.

“These people have been here for a few years and their language skills are still an issue, as is mental health,” he said.

“There’s also making sure they’re housed and they have an opportunity to work.

“What that’s code for is we certainly need more funding to look after these people.

“We’ve got a number of groups who are working, some of which who are paid, but there is also a tremendous amount of volunteer work.”