Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Toowoomba region's economy is bouncing back from the challenges of COVID and growing the number of jobs and opportunities available for local workers. It was great to read in TheChronicle just this week about the expansion plans for the Grassdale Feedlot, run by Mort & Co, an absolutely fantastic organisation. We expect to see jobs flow in from that announcement. That's good news. Over the last year we've seen our employment rate rise by a staggering 18.7 per cent. This is great news for the region.

One business that is growing, in a very literal sense, is Brindabella Roses. It's a Blue Mountain Heights based nursery run by John and Sylvia Gray that has taken its great local products and sent them globally. It's no surprise that if you go to their garden along the New England Highway it looks amazing from the outside. But, should you get the invitation to go inside, it's a veritable garden of Eden, with some amazing flowers on display. While John and Sylvia have been exporting their roses to the United States since 2018, their new variety, the Brindabella Purple Prince, is unlocking new markets. This locally grown variety was named the winner of the local artist award at the American Rose Trials for Sustainability last year and, further, took out two more awards at the American Rose Garden Selections, known by those in the game as the Olympics of roses. The key to its success in the competition and its now success in the US market is its scent. The US is dominated by some fantastic roses, particularly one known as the Knock Out variety. It's a deep cherry red, with excellent blackspot resistance, but it has no fragrance. Now the Brindabella Purple Prince steps forth as a worthy challenger to that. To put this in context, 20 million a year of the Knock Out variety have been sold in the last 10 years in the US. So the opportunity for this Toowoomba based rose to really do well in this market is fantastic. I was excited to learn that the game-changing new rose is being sold with a little tag on the side explaining its Toowoomba roots, quite literally, telling the story of Toowoomba as the garden city that we know it to be.

I share this story for two reasons. The first is to encourage other local producers to reach out and to seek markets beyond our borders. We have fantastic products in our regions. It's wonderful to see them doing so well on the international stage. The second is to speak again on behalf of Toowoomba. It is a powerhouse within our economy, not just within the region but playing a much broader role. We've learnt to do more with less by capitalising on the best technology available, whether that's in growing roses, expanding feedlots or the fantastic life-saving medical transport equipment from local business Neocot which is used around the world to transport infants safely in emergency situations. That's another great Toowoomba innovation and design manufactured and commercialised in Toowoomba. I thank all these businesses for all they do in bringing jobs and growth into our economy.