Toowoomba councillor Gary Gardner to give entire four-year TRC salary to charities after $123,000 donation to Base Services

Gary Gardner says he didn’t join the Toowoomba Regional Council ‘for the money’ and he’s proving it by pledging to donate his entire salary four the full term to local charities.

Cr Gary Gardner, Louise Hamilton, Tiff and Nat Sparry as BASE Services launches fundraising campaign Homeless for a Week 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler

Toowoomba business identity and first-term councillor Gary Gardner has declared he’ll donate his entire local government salary to local charities for the four years he’s in the job, worth potentially more than $500,000.

Mr Gardner shocked the city last week when he pledged to donate his entire councillor remuneration for 2024-25 — worth about $123,000 — to Base Services as part of its Homeless for a Week fundraiser.

The donation has helped kickstart the charity’s ambitious goal of raising $1m, which it says it needs to relocate and expand its services supporting the city’s homeless and disadvantaged residents.

The executive chairman of FKG Group and one of the city’s philanthropists said he planned to give away the rest of his council salary as well.

“As long as they’re doing the right thing, I will give to a charity every year, unless circumstances go differently — I’m not in council for the money,” he said.

“We (FKG Group) do a fair bit every year, but we don’t seek recognition from it — I get businesses to follow suit.”

Mr Gardner said this would most likely be the Base Services, assuming the initial $10,000 monthly donations were well-spent.

He said Toowoomba was blessed with a slew of generous philanthropists such as but not limited to Clive Berghofer, the Wagner family and Clive Armitage.

But he noted the generosity was only possible due to Toowoomba’s exceptional culture of volunteerism.

“People who run school sports programs, who are feeding the homeless — (they’re all) important,” Mr Gardner said.