Our commitment. We're for you.
It can be hard to define trust but if you consider someone who has been by your side for decades and always tells you the truth about events that matter as trustworthy then people like Nev Madsen spring to mind.
After graduating from Queensland College of Art in 1987, Nev Madsen gained a position as a press photographer at the Toowoomba Chronicle and has been here ever since.
When disaster strikes, photographers like Nev are on the ground to capture those important moments.
Take the devastating 2011 floods for instance.
On a day off, Nev leapt into action to capture the gripping image of a flood rescue.
It was this image of an emergency worker battling to save a mother and daughter from floodwaters on January 10, 2011, bagged him a Walkley that year.
But it is not just Nev. Take Peter Hardwick for example.
Having been born in North Queensland, journalist Pete moved to Toowoomba at the age of 10 in 1971, after his school principal father was transferred to Haden outside Crows Nest.
He did his secondary schooling at St Mary’s College in Toowoomba, before taking an apprenticeship at as a compositor/type setter in January 1976.
Apart from travelling stints to England and Europe where he lived from 1983 to 1985 and Brisbane in 1989 and Melbourne in 1990, Peter’s been at
ever since.
On the editor of the day’s request in 1996, he moved into editorial and started his career in journalism.
Having covered our courts for much of the past 23 years, Peter has seen quite a bit of Toowoomba’s underbelly, but for him it remains a great city in which to live.
Nev and Pete know how great our city and region is. That is why they have lived here for so long. They live lives just like you and they ensure they work to make our home a better place. We have always been a campaigning paper.
The build of the Second Range Crossing came after a four-decade long campaign by The Chronicle.
We relentlessly held our politicians to account until finally the cash for the $1.6 billion project was made available.
In the past few years, we’ve backed the Wagners in their construction of an airport at Wellcamp – the biggest game changer for our city in decades. We are pushing for our share of the massive Inland Rail project.
But it isn’t just the big ticket items we’re concerned about. We’re also about humour, joy and passion. We are about how Queensland will again win the State of Origin league series. We are passionate about the Maroons. We hate those cockroaches from south of the border.
The stories of triumph, the stories of adversity, they’re the stories of the people that live in this beautiful part of the world.
Our reporters dig deep to expose failings that affect our residents. Matt Newton’s investigation into Millmerran’s Yallambee Aged Care facility exposed serious shortcomings in Australia’s aged care system, adding to the litany of material that eventually resulted in the Federal Government calling the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Another campaign we’ve championed is the Back Our Subbies series, highlighting the plight of subcontractors across the state who’ve lost hundreds of millions of dollars in big business liquidations in recent years.
Many of them are family-owned businesses who have undergone serious financial stress in the aftermath of businesses like JM Kelly Builders or Cullen Group or Ostwald Brothers going bust.
It’s a serious issue that affects thousands of Queensland families and it’s been ignored for far too long.
And because we’re engaged in a relationship of trust we’re happy to admit we have some recent interlopers.
Deputy Will Hunter has only lived in the Garden City for a short time, but is proud to call the Darling Downs home.
He’s spent many years telling the stories of the incredible communities that surround the Garden City.
And reporters like Tom Gillespie have been with The Chronicle for more than two years, and watched this city and region grow and evolve even in that short space of time.
But he says constants are always pleasant – a warm and welcoming community, vibrant cultural and food scene, and burgeoning economy anchored by several industries.
Already they’re forming part of the fabric of this community just like another of our long-time staffers - photographer Bev Lacey just celebrated 35 years.
And is it any wonder. Our problems are similar to any city of comparable size in Australia. But we face them head-on and work together to make our city a better place for all.
And that is our commitment…. We’re for You.
Together you and The Chronicle have endured for nearly 160 years. And we’ve been here through the good and bad times. Our unique communities are fiercely loyal, passionate and love their town. It’s the stories we hear from Toowoomba, and these surrounding towns, that keep us delivering the best news to our readers. We believe Toowoomba is the greatest city in the greatest state in the greatest nation on earth.