Toowoomba far ahead of the pack for Qantas facility

LET’S clear up this Toowoomba-Mackay clash for the new Qantas pilot training academy.

Toowoomba vs Mackay in Qantas bid. Picture: Harry Bruce

LET'S clear up this Toowoomba-Mackay clash for the new Qantas pilot training academy.

I was born in Mackay, grew up there and raised my children there.

It was a great place and I loved every minute of my time there.

But that was 30 plus years ago.

Mackay, sadly, is not the glamorous, prosperous city portrayed by its civic leaders in the Daily Mercury.

It is easy to understand their desperation to secure a new industry.

The city is in a slump - as anyone who has invested in a rental property there can attest. Conversely, look at Toowoomba.

It is one of the nation's economic hot spots, one of the most beautiful cities in Australia, and home to the most successful garden show and flower festival in Australia (The Chronicle Garden competition and the Carnival of Flowers - three successive wins in the tourism awards).

Toowoomba has its own university with graduates rating the highest for starting salaries.

We have a $500 million CBD shopping centre redevelopment that has brought capital city shopping here.

We started the First Coat public art festival - recognised nationally.

We have Australia's newest and most modern airport - Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport - connecting us to the world.

A major $1.6 billion infrastructure project - the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing - is scheduled to be finished next year.

We are part of the massive inland rail project.

We have three major hospitals and a huge number of medical specialists in town.

Our schools - private and public - are the equal of any in Australia.

Sport - we have punched above our weight for decades.

Think where Johnathan Thurston started his career. Think NRL games played here. Think national champions in so many areas. Think Will Power. Think Tim Horan. Think Shane Webcke. Think Queensland PGA championship and the Hutchinson Builders Tennis International.

Our housing is affordable and available now ($350,000 still buys you a very nice four-bedroom home).

Our business leaders are innovative and future looking - with 90 leaders returning from an AccessNZ trip to scout business opportunities. This followed on from a vastly successful AccessChina trip in 2016.

And our business leaders back us with their money.

John Wagner has committed $55 million for infrastructure for the academy. I've heard nothing but crickets from Mackay's business community.

So Mackay, thanks for the memories.

But Toowoomba is the future - for so many reasons.

And as for Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan telling me what I know or do not know deep down, he only has to read this.

He is welcome to drop in and visit this amazing city.

I can introduce him to any number of real estate agents when he wants to move here and he can probably even run for office.

Make sure you share the hashtag: #qantas4twba

Originally published as Toowoomba far ahead of the pack for Qantas facility