With increasingly positive outlooks in the agriculture and energy sectors, regional centres offer job security, prosperity and quality of life to their residents. However, Ray Brown, Mayor of Western Downs Regional Council, and his rural colleagues have to fight to maintain their townships’ populations. With a flood of young people leaving the region, it begs the question: should we fight to keep them on the farm, or is there a more valuable lesson to be learnt in leaving?
Ray Brown
Ray Brown has served as the Mayor of the Western Downs Regional Council for the past three years and has previously represented Local Government for 20 years. The Western Downs Regional Council covers an area of 38,000 km2 and represents 23 towns and 99 communities.
Ray and his wife live on their family grain and cattle property in the Moonie District. He has great ties with the rural sector, also having connections to the mining sector through the development of the Moonie Oilfields on one of his properties. Due to his keen interest in sport and agriculture, he has travelled the world but his passion is his region’s communities and where they are heading in the future.
