Brisbane Olympics: Future Toowoomba luncheon at Wellcamp Airport shapes plan for 2032 games

A major statistic about Toowoomba’s middle class has left leading demographer and population expert Simon Kuestenmacher baffled. More from the Future Toowoomba luncheon here.

Simon Kuestenmacher of The Demographics Group delivers the keynote address via zoom at the Future Toowoomba lunch at Wellcamp Airport. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Developing a unified voice and securing vital sporting infrastructure are on top of Toowoomba’s to-do list to play a big role in the upcoming 2032 Olympic Games.

That was the consensus of some of the region’s brightest minds at The Chronicle’s Future Toowoomba luncheon on Friday at Wellcamp Airport, which explored the opportunities and obstacles facing the region ahead of the games.

The exclusive event was headlined by a panel including businessman John Wagner, leading real estate agent Mike Stewart, leading Olympic legacy planner Mark Mason and Sydney 2000 gold medallist Nat Cook.

Mr Wagner, who was highly critical of the fact no Toowoomba councillors were present at the luncheon, took aim at the “lack of vision” exhibited by political leaders around infrastructure.

He pointed to the State Government’s decision to upgrade Clive Berghofer Stadium for the Olympics, rather than explore a new stadium build to cater for future growth.

“What a nonsensical, brainless idea to upgrade a facility that doesn’t have one car park,” Mr Wagner said.

“They’re talking about upgrading the athletics oval — let’s think big, think outside the box.”

Mr Wagner said his company’s planned entertainment precinct at Wellcamp would have space for a new stadium.

Mr Mason, who worked with organisers at both Sydney and London, said securing legacy infrastructure that could service the community beyond the Olympics was the key to securing events.

“We need this infrastructure for Toowoomba – the Olympics should be an afterthought,” he said.

“We need to understand our capabilities, be aspirational with where we want to go, and be united to get there.

“It’s about our capability to host those events.”

Mr Rohl said the community needed to unite around a common message to ensure Toowoomba didn’t get left behind by Olympic organisers.

“There’s enormous potential here, but we have to come together and drive as a group and not as individuals,” he said.

Olympian Matt Denny at the Future Toowoomba lunch at Wellcamp Airport. Picture: Kevin Farmer

ALLORA OLYMPIAN WANTS REGIONAL ATHLETE SUPPORT

Two-time Olympian and Allora legend Matt Denny says Toowoomba’s bid to secure a fair share of the 2032 games must help set up elite pathways to keep regional athletes in the communities they love.

The champion discus thrower made the impassioned plea at The Chronicle’s Future Toowoomba luncheon on Friday, which served as a conversation started for the city’s Olympic dreams.

Denny, who came fourth at the Tokyo games, said he was forced to move to Brisbane at 18 to pursue his dreams.

“There are no real development pathways, and that needs to be fixed,” he said.

“We’ve got time to put a legacy program in place, so I want to give people an idea of what’s missing and how they can get involved to develop that infrastructure.

“With rural communities, sport is the biggest social interaction, but we’re losing elite athletes because we don’t have pathways for Olympic sports.”

Denny said a high-quality public athletic oval in Toowoomba would be a good start.

Simon Kuestenmacher of The Demographics Group delivers the keynote address via zoom at the Future Toowoomba lunch at Wellcamp Airport. Picture: Kevin Farmer

WHY TOOWOOMBA HAS ‘MASSIVE’ MIDDLE CLASS

Toowoomba’s workforce is the “bastion” of the Australian middle class, making the city perfectly placed to push for key infrastructure.

That’s the view of leading demographer Simon Kuestenmacher (pictured), who used his keynote address at the Future Toowoomba luncheon on Friday to explore the Garden City’s strengths and shortfalls ahead of the 2032 Olympics.

Addressing the crowd via Zoom, Mr Kuestenmacher said while changes to Australia’s workforce over 50 years had hollowed out middle-class jobs, census data showed Toowoomba had some of the healthiest mid-tier workforce numbers he’d seen.

“If you imagine the workforce, you might imagine the bell curve where you have highly skilled workers and then a lot of middle class workers,” he said.

A comparison of Australia's workforce breakdown by skill level, compared with Toowoomba. Supplied by the Demographics Group.

“That was the Australia of the 1970s, when we look at Australia now, as February 2020, only 15 per cent are medium-skill level.

“If you don’t have that, it’s extremely hard to maintain social cohesion — this is poison for a community.

“I can show you the skill profile for Toowoomba and I have not seen it in any other location in Australia.

“You have a massive middle class; that does not exist in Australia.

“You are the bastion of the middle class in Australia (and) the middle class is the social glue of the society.”

Nearly 30 per cent of Toowoomba’s workforce in 2016 were middle-class jobs, almost double the current national average.

Mr Kuestenmacher also said Toowoomba ticked a number of boxes a regional city needed to have, but pointed to a lack of entrepreneurs, a major convention centre and new stadium as areas for improvement.