July 17, 2026
A team from the University of Southern Queensland dropped into Kingaroy this week to say g’day to local business leaders and introduce recently appointed Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Mazerolle.
This was the Vice-Chancellor’s first regional tour, which also took in Roma, Chinchilla and Dalby.
The aim was to bring together local leaders, industry representatives and community members to discuss local priorities, strengthen partnerships, and hear firsthand about the opportunities and challenges facing each region.
UniSQ has campuses in Toowoomba, Springfield and Ipswich as well as Brisbane.
In Kingaroy, the group – which included several senior academics – hosted a lunch for local councillors and business leaders on Wednesday before holding a networking meet’n’greet later that evening for the wider community, including current and former UniSQ students.
A popular topic of conversation on the night was the great benefits a university study hub could bring to the South Burnett region.
The tour coincided with a visit to the region by the CSIRO Mobile Mission Operations Centre, a transportable “mission control” promoting the space industry while also serving as a mobile STEM education unit.
The trailer was parked at St John’s Lutheran School where students enjoyed a hand-on opportunity to control various “satellites”.
There was a total of 655 visits to the centre while it was at St John’s, by both primary and secondary students (although some came through several times).
