Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio moves to establish ties with Ukrainian community as act at final meeting
Toowoomba could soon have formal ties with a community in Ukraine, in one of Paul Antonio’s final moves before he retires as mayor on July 21.
Council
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Outgoing mayor Paul Antonio has used one of his final acts in local government to help create a connection between Toowoomba and a community in Ukraine as the country continues to suffer under an invasion by Russia.
Mr Antonio’s motion at Tuesday’s meeting, which was endorsed by the council, will see the organisation develop a report to explore the ways the Garden City can provide direct support to a city or town in the eastern European nation.
It follows the council’s previous attempts to support Ukrainians either abroad or resettling in Australia, having written to ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko recently to offer help.
Mr Antonio said establishing a direct connection with a Ukrainian community would reflect Toowoomba’s caring nature.
“We want to do it properly through the ambassador — that is fairly appropriate, and I’ve written letters to him, but he’s exceptionally busy and he hasn’t been able to get back to us,” he said.
“We’ve invited him to come here, but Toowoomba is the kind of town where there is an enormous amount of compassion and I’m terribly proud of that.
“There is a lot of passion coming from councillor Carol Taylor on this and she’s had a connection to the Ukrainian ambassador.
“The reality is this community will step up and we’ll try to do what we can to assist people in Ukraine, who are really suffering at this point in time.”
The report will come back to council well after Mr Antonio has left the chamber, with the 41-year veteran bringing his political career to an end on July 21.
The war in Ukraine passed the 500-day mark last week, with Mr Myroshnychenko calling the conflict “very difficult” for his countrymen and women.
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