Several trophies have been stolen from Royal Queensland Golf Club in Eagle Farm after a clubhouse balcony door was drilled open and a glass trophy cabinet was smashed, with police investigating who was involved.
Queensland Police said initial investigations indicated entry was gained to the premises between 7pm on 31 July and 5am on 1 August 2026.
Members were informed after the break-in that the clubhouse balcony door had been drilled open. A glass cabinet containing club trophies had also been smashed and several trophies taken.
Club president Liam Ryan advised members that a police report had been filed. The club also planned further investigation through its clubhouse cameras and security systems.
Royal Queensland Golf Club has operated in Eagle Farm since its establishment in 1920 and received its Royal Charter in 1921.
The club has an entrance fee of more than $20,000 for full members, while Australian golfers Adam Scott, Cameron Smith and Greg Norman are among its prominent members.
The club is currently undergoing upgrades associated with the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The works have resulted in the venue losing its Australian PGA Championship hosting rights for the first time since 2022.
Police inquiries into the break-in remain ongoing.
The Eagle Farm grandstand long known as the John Power Stand is set for demolition from August, ending nearly seven decades of use at the Ascot racecourse as plans progress for its replacement, The Terraces.
The John Power Stand at Eagle Farm Racecourse is preparing to come down after nearly 70 years as part of a major change to the Ascot racing precinct.
The final winter carnival meeting at Eagle Farm marked the end of a long chapter for the ageing stand, which was built in 1957 and has capacity for about 4,000 people.
Engineers have determined the structure presents health and safety concerns for patrons, with the stand scheduled to be decommissioned in August 2026. Demolition is expected to begin from August and take between four and six months.
Named after former Queensland Turf Club president Dr John Power, the stand has long formed part of the spectator precinct at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Queensland’s premier thoroughbred racing venue.
Photo Credit: MID-0524-0842
The Terraces Planned For Ascot Precinct
The Eagle Farm grandstand will be replaced by The Terraces, a four-level facility planned with updated safety, accessibility and race-day amenities.
The proposed new stand will include bars, a restaurant with tiered seating and five private suites that can be reconfigured into a larger function room. Planning for the facility has also included public and patron areas, a ground-floor plaza and a rooftop restaurant and bar.
Hassell and RWA Sports Architecture have been linked to the design, which is planned around racecourse views, hospitality spaces and improved facilities for spectators.
Construction of the replacement stand is not expected to start until the new year at the earliest.
Photo Credit: MID-0524-0842
Funding Still Being Finalised
An initial $25 million has been secured to start the first phase of the redevelopment.
The broader project has been placed at $100 million, with Brisbane Racing Club continuing negotiations for the remaining $75 million.
The new spectator facilities are being delivered through a partnership between Racing Queensland and Brisbane Racing Club.
Photo Credit: MID-0524-0842
Racing To Continue During Redevelopment
Eagle Farm is expected to operate under a different model while the redevelopment proceeds.
Both the John Power Stand and the adjoining heritage stand will be closed to the public, with the heritage stand also due for upgrades. The racecourse is scheduled to host its next Saturday meeting on 25 July.
Planning has included exclusion zones to keep race meetings operating during the works. Brisbane Racing Club has spent months preparing for the transition and has said maintaining racing continuity remains a priority.
An Eagle Farm tyre theft allegation has emerged from a wider Brisbane hoon blitz that saw eight people charged, 66 traffic infringement notices issued and two Ford Falcons seized after an alleged long weekend hooning event across Brisbane and Ipswich.
Police have charged eight people and seized two vehicles during Operation X-Ray Antler, a multi-district operation targeting alleged hooning activity across Brisbane and neighbouring policing districts.
The operation disrupted more than 30 vehicles attending an alleged hooning event across Brisbane and Ipswich between 2 and 3 May. Four vehicles are alleged to have participated in hooning driving behaviour.
A 20-year-old man was among those charged after allegedly stealing tyres near one of the hooning events before being chased down by police in Eagle Farm. The allegation forms part of a wider enforcement response to dangerous driving and related offending across the area.
Photo Credit: QPS
Police allege some activity connected to hooning events has extended beyond dangerous driving, including thefts and the use of unregistered or unroadworthy vehicles. Tyres used during burnouts were also alleged to have been stolen from businesses across the region.
Two Ford Falcons Seized In Brisbane Hoon Blitz
Two vehicles were seized during the operation: a blue Ford Falcon and a silver Ford Falcon.
A 19-year-old man was charged with driving a motor vehicle without a driver licence and is expected to appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court on 9 June.
The eight people charged so far face a range of alleged offences, including possessing dangerous drugs, stealing wheels, having a face masked or disguised with intent to commit an indictable offence, tainted property, unlicensed driving and driving under the influence of drugs.
Officers also issued 66 traffic infringement notices during the operation. These included 22 notices for spectating without a reasonable excuse in hooning group activity and 19 notices for exceeding the speed limit.
Other notices related to defective vehicles, unnecessary noise or smoke, unregistered or uninsured vehicles, number plate offences and other traffic breaches. One notice was also issued for allegedly organising, promoting or encouraging participation in, or spectating at, hoon group activity.
Photo Credit: QPS
Gateway Bridge Incident Still Under Investigation
The Brisbane hoon blitz also included an alleged Gateway Bridge incident after one vehicle initially evaded police and was allegedly involved in hooning offences on the bridge.
A Highway Patrol unit responded and disrupted the alleged activity to prevent further offending. Investigations into both the wider hooning event and the Gateway Bridge incident remain ongoing.
Operation X-Ray Antler was led by North Brisbane District Highway Patrol, with support from Highway Patrol units and Tactical Crime Squad units from South Brisbane District and Ipswich.
A fuel terminal in Eagle Farm has been placed under an environmental enforcement order after a report found dangerous levels of so-called “forever chemicals” in the soil and groundwater beneath the site, with authorities confirming the chemicals may have been discharged into the surrounding environment, including the Brisbane River.
The enforcement order, issued in March 2026, found variants of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS, in soil, groundwater and “washdown” at the facility. “The department considers that the activities being conducted at the premises have the potential to cause harm,” the report stated.
What was found at Eagle Farm?
The enforcement order confirmed PFOS in the groundwater was regularly measured above the 99th and 95th percentile species protection ecological water quality guidelines. The total PFAS sum in groundwater was recorded as high as 93.9 micrograms per litre.
The exact source of the contamination has not been definitively established. A type of firefighting foam that is no longer in use has been noted as a possible contributing factor. The foam may have been used at the facility for firefighting or training purposes.
PFAS are commonly found in the environment at low levels due to their widespread use in consumer and speciality products over many decades. Dozens of industrial sites along the Brisbane River may have used similar equipment historically.
What are PFAS?
Firefighters using aqueous film forming foam (Photo credit: CC BY-SA 3.0/Fire Brigade Neder-Betuwe/Wikimedia Commons)
PFAS is an umbrella term for a large group of human-made chemicals used in industrial and consumer products since the 1950s. According to Queensland’s environmental authority, they are used for their oil and grease repellence and high thermal stability, properties that made them particularly useful in firefighting foams.
PFAS are highly persistent in the environment due to their carbon-fluorine bonds, one of the strongest chemical bonds in organic chemistry. Their persistence, solubility and high mobility mean PFAS can be easily transported great distances beyond the source of their release.
It can take several years for PFAS levels to reduce in the human body, and there is a risk that continued exposure to PFOS and PFOA could result in adverse health effects due to the accumulation of chemicals over time.
The specific variants detected at the Eagle Farm site were PFOS, PFHxS and PFOA, the latter of which is a known carcinogen.
What happens next?
Under the enforcement order, the facility’s operator is required to conduct extensive further sampling and investigate all potential PFAS migration pathways. A final report is due in 2027.
The Eagle Farm findings follow separate reporting in late 2024 that PFOA had been detected in Brisbane’s drinking water at levels among the highest recorded in Australia. Documents obtained under right to information laws indicated efforts had been made to keep that data from public release.
Queensland authorities advise residents living near contaminated areas to reduce their PFAS exposure where possible. In areas where water contamination has been identified, this includes not drinking the water or using it to prepare food, and avoiding consuming food products grown or produced using contaminated water.
Anyone with concerns about their health or potential PFAS exposure is encouraged to speak with their GP or call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).
Did you know that the Gateway Bridge, which connects Eagle Farm on Brisbane’s north side to Murarrie in the south, was once called the world’s deadliest bridge? It is a little-known chapter in the bridge’s history that hundreds of thousands of road users who cross it on any given day would likely find hard to believe, yet the statistics from its early years told a grim story.
This year marks 40 years since the structure most locals simply call “the Gateway” opened to the public. What began as a bold engineering solution to the city’s chronic traffic gridlock would eventually become the site of more than 120 deaths, and a cautionary tale about the cost of inadequate safety measures.
A city crying out for a crossing
Gateway Bridge under construction, Brisbane, September 1984 Queensland State Archives, Digital Image ID 3514
Back in the 1970s, Brisbane had a problem. Drivers travelling between the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast had no practical way to bypass the city. They either crawled through inner-city crossings or queued for slow, capacity-limited car ferries. Freight and commuters alike faced regular delays.
Then roads minister Russ Hinze championed an ambitious bypass plan. A tunnel was considered but ruled out on cost grounds, so engineers looked upward instead, designing a structure tall enough for ships to pass beneath its deck, yet low enough to avoid conflicting with flight paths into nearby Brisbane Airport.
What followed was five years of construction that, by today’s standards, would make a workplace health and safety officer wince. Crews worked high above the river often clad in little more than shorts and thongs, with no harnesses and, in many cases, no hard hats. Remarkably, there were no major incidents.
A public spectacle and a royal quip
Opening day of the Gateway Bridge in 1986 (Photo credit: Facebook/Brisbane Libraries)
When the bridge finally opened on 11 January 1986, Brisbane went a little wild. An estimated 200,000 Queenslanders turned up to walk across the 1.6-kilometre span before it opened to traffic, with thousands of blue, yellow and black balloons marking the occasion. News reporters called it “a once-in-a-lifetime chance to walk the one-and-a-half kilometre world record span.”
Members of the public declared it “the best bridge in the world.” Its 260-metre main span was a world-leading design for concrete bridges at the time, and the deck rises more than 60 metres above the river.
Prince Phillip at the official opening of the bridge (Photo credit: Facebook/Brisbane Libraries)
Prince Philip formally opened the bridge four months later with characteristic dry wit: “I now declare the bridge to be more open than usual.”
Motorists paid $1.50 to cross, while truck drivers were slugged $7. Not everyone was impressed.
A dark chapter
However, the fanfare faded fast. Without adequate safety barriers, just a low wall separating pedestrians from a fatal drop, the bridge became the site of more than 120 deaths from accidents and suicides before 1993.
A television reporter, broadcasting live from the top of the bridge at the time, pointed out to viewers that there were virtually no safety measures in place and that a small wall was the only thing standing between a pedestrian and a fatal plunge below.
In 1993, safety barriers, crisis phones and suicide prevention measures were introduced, fundamentally transforming the bridge’s character. Events like the Bridge to Brisbane fun run later welcomed people back onto the structure in a very different context.
Twin spans and a new name
Gateway Bridge under construction (Photo credit: Public Domain/Paul Guard/Wikimedia Commons)
By the mid-2000s, Brisbane’s booming population had outgrown the original six lanes. A second, near-identical bridge was built just 50 metres away, opening in 2010 at a cost of around $350 million, compared to the original’s $92 million build. It added a dedicated pedestrian and cycling path.
The pair were later renamed the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges, in honour of the German-born Queensland Treasury chief who helped shape the state’s finances for decades. He called the recognition “a great honour,” though most locals still just say “the Gateway.”
Old toll booth (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The removal of toll booths in 2009 in favour of electronic tolling also led to an immediate reduction in crashes. Today, motorists pay around $5.50 to cross, with trucks charged closer to $18. Together, the twin bridges now carry up to 160,000 vehicles a day, a staggering leap from the roughly 12,000 vehicles that crossed in its early days.
Forty years on, the Gateway’s story is one of transformation, from traffic solution to tragedy, and ultimately to redemption. Not bad for a bridge most of us barely notice on the morning commute.
The tournament, one of Australia’s most prestigious golf events, will run from 26 to 29 November at The Lakes in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, marking the first time New South Wales has hosted the PGA Championship in almost 30 years. The move brings to an end a 26-year Queensland run that has wound through three iconic venues and helped grow the event into a genuine global drawcard.
For Eagle Farm locals and Brisbane golf fans who have watched the PGA attract up to 50,000 spectators across four days at Royal Queensland over the past five years, the temporary departure stings. But tourism and events leaders are confident the championship will return to Queensland once the Olympic upgrade work is complete.
Why Royal Queensland Had to Step Aside
Royal Queensland will add a new nine-hole layout, a riverside pavilion, and enhanced training and recreational facilities as part of its approved masterplan, with the club confirmed as the venue for men’s and women’s golf events at the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The club was granted its Royal Charter by King George V in 1921 and has hosted the Australian Open three times, but the scale of the Olympic preparation work now underway makes it unsuitable as a PGA host venue in the near term.
The search for an alternative Brisbane home for the 2026 PGA Championship came up short. No venue within Queensland was found that could comfortably accommodate the event’s full footprint, including the 50,000 spectators across four days, the on-course infrastructure and the operational requirements the tournament now demands at its current scale.
Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Craig Davidson said the venue change reflected Royal Queensland entering a significant phase of works to ensure the course met future world-class standards. “TEQ has a strong and longstanding partnership with the PGA and remains committed to ongoing discussions about future event opportunities for Queensland,” he said.
Tourism Minister Andrew Powell said a temporary relocation was expected given the upgrade timeline. “Queensland continues to lead as Australia’s events capital, with major upgrades to be delivered at Royal Queensland Golf Club ahead of Brisbane 2032,” he said. “We welcome future opportunities to see it return once the upgraded course is complete.”
The PGA Championship has been held in Queensland continuously since 2000, initially at Royal Queensland before moving to Hyatt Coolum, later renamed Palmer Coolum, for 11 consecutive years from 2002 to 2012, then to Royal Pines on the Gold Coast from 2013 to 2019. The event returned to Royal Queensland for 2021 and has remained there for the past five editions, building the tournament’s international stature alongside its co-sanctioning with the DP World Tour.
The BMW Australian PGA Championship launches the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai each season and has become a key part of Australia’s sporting summer, with the world’s leading players regularly making the trip for what is now a genuinely global event. PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman described the move to Sydney as an exciting opportunity.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with NSW authorities in bringing the BMW Australian PGA Championship back to Sydney,” he said. “The city is synonymous with world-class sporting events and we are thrilled that we are able to return to The Lakes Golf Club.”
The Lakes is a three-time previous host of the BMW Australian PGA Championship and has staged eight editions of the Australian Open, which it last jointly hosted in 2023.
Queensland Golf’s Broader Picture
While the PGA Championship heads south, Queensland’s women’s golf calendar is growing stronger. The 2026 Australian WPGA Championship was held at the Palms Course at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on the Gold Coast from 19 to 22 March, offering a $600,000 prize purse and co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour, with plans to build the event further as a major in its own right.
The PGA of Australia said it was focused on building momentum with the championship for the long term. “The BMW Australian PGA Championship has become a standout event on the DP World Tour and a key part of Australia’s sporting summer,” a spokesperson said. “Planning for future editions of the event is focused on building on that momentum and delivering an even better experience for players and fans.”
With Royal Queensland’s upgraded course and expanded Olympic-standard facilities expected to be complete ahead of 2032, Queensland golf’s flagship event has every reason to come home.
An Eagle Farm-based charity that employs people with disability has reduced its workforce by about 40 positions, following the loss of a major contract.
Help Enterprises, based at Curtin Avenue E in Eagle Farm, offers employment to people with disability across manufacturing, warehousing, and packaging. In November 2025, the organisation took out the Social Enterprise of the Year title at the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards, with its Chief Executive Steve Wyborn reportedly describing the honour as a powerful acknowledgement of the team’s hard work and dedication.
Photo credit: Google Street View
But by January, dozens of supported employees at the Eagle Farm site had allegedly been called into the office and told their positions no longer existed.
One long-serving worker who had been with Help Enterprises for more than two decades reportedly described feeling completely empty after being told he had lost his job. He allegedly said the announcement came without warning, and that as recently as the work Christmas party the month prior, staff had reportedly been assured their jobs were secure regardless of circumstances.
Job Support Following Contract Loss
Photo credit: Google Street View
In an interview with a media outlet, Mr Wyborn confirmed the redundancies followed a long-standing commercial partner’s decision to bring its services in-house, removing a significant volume of work from the Eagle Farm site.
Mr Wyborn said the organisation had been working closely with all 41 affected employees to support continuity of employment. He said seven workers had already transitioned into new roles within Help’s manufacturing and nursery teams, nine had commenced employment elsewhere, and a further 13 had entered job trials or alternative employment pathways. The remaining workers were reportedly continuing to weigh up their options, with individual check-ins ongoing.
He added that Help remained committed to delivering sustainable, diversified employment for people with disability, and that the organisation was actively repositioning its commercial operations to strengthen future stability.
Below Minimum Wage, and Now No Wage
The redundancies have reignited debate around the vulnerability of supported employment models for people with disability. Help Enterprises, like similar organisations, operates under the supported employee wage system, which legally permits employers to pay workers with disability below the national minimum wage based on assessed productivity and skill levels. As of July last year, supported employees could be paid $7.10 or $14.19 per hour, depending on productivity and skills assessment.
For an Eagle Farm worker who spent more than 20 years at Help Enterprises, the impact has been both financial and personal. He reportedly said he now has to carefully budget each fortnight on his pension, something he had not needed to do while working. But it is the routine, getting up each morning, heading in, being around colleagues, that he said he misses most.
He reportedly said that given the chance, he would return to Help Enterprises without hesitation. His situation reflects a reality that disability advocates say is all too common: for many people with disability, supported employment is not just a job. It is structure, social connection, and a sense of purpose.
Disability advocates argued that workers with disability deserve inclusive employment models with equal pay, rather than systems dependent on charity contracts and below-minimum wages.
Brisbane Airport is set to house a massive home improvement destination the size of three Olympic swimming pool precincts to help local residents and builders manage their construction projects in one single trip.
The Build and Design Centre plans to move its operations from South Brisbane to the Skygate precinct in Eagle Farm during early 2027. This relocation represents a major step for the organisation as it grows into a purpose-built facility covering more than 4,000 square metres.
By moving to this strategic location, the centre aims to serve the growing number of people in Queensland who are currently tackling home repairs or starting new construction projects. The facility will sit within a well-known retail area that already attracts many visitors who shop at the nearby DFO.
Making Home Design Easier for Families
The two-level building will feature more than 70 different showrooms where visitors can walk through various room layouts to see how products look in a real home setting. Instead of travelling across the city to look at different parts, locals can find everything from kitchen cupboards and stone benchtops to outdoor cladding and bricks in one spot.
Because many people find the building process stressful and time-consuming, the centre is designed to let them compare brands and coordinate their entire project without the need to visit dozens of separate shops.
Supporting Industry and Community Growth
Photo Credit: Google Maps
The executive general manager for commercial at Brisbane Airport, Scott Norris, believes the project will offer a unique experience for the retail precinct. He noted that the hub will provide a more efficient way for people to plan projects of any size and will change the way locals approach renovations.
The director of the centre, Charl Liebenberg, stated that the move to Eagle Farm provides better access to major roads for customers who are short on time. He explained that the new scale of the building allows them to offer expert advice and a wide range of suppliers in a central location that is easy to reach by car or bus.
The new facility will be part of a massive 2,700-hectare area at Brisbane Airport that already supports over 600 businesses. While the airport is known for travel, it has become a major destination for commerce and industry because of its links to the city’s road network. The addition of this building hub includes spaces specifically made for design seminars and workshops where professional builders and designers can meet to learn about new trends. This expansion ensures that the airport remains a key gateway for both local shoppers and the wider Queensland building industry.
A new 600-metre shared path connecting the Moreton Bay Cycleway at the Schneider Road underpass in Eagle Farm to the Brisbane Airport precinct at Viola Place is now open, closing a long-standing gap in the cycling network that had frustrated northside riders for years.
The path, completed in late January 2026 after construction began in May 2025, gives cyclists, walkers and scooter riders a safe, continuous off-road connection between Eagle Farm and the airport for the first time. Dozens of cyclists turned out on opening morning to celebrate the new link, with a free pop-up coffee station set up along the path to mark the occasion.
For Ascot and Eagle Farm residents who commute to the airport precinct or connect to the broader cycling network from the northside, the new path removes the last significant off-road gap on this stretch of the Moreton Bay Cycleway. For riders arriving from Brisbane’s southside via the Gateway Bridge, it completes a critical northern link that previously forced cyclists onto road shoulders or into detours to continue their journey toward the airport and TradeCoast Central employment areas.
A Route Through the Gateway Motorway Corridor
The new path begins at the existing cycleway at Schneider Road in Eagle Farm, passes under the Gateway Motorway, and connects to the existing bike lane and footpath at Viola Place inside the Brisbane Airport precinct. The network map shows how the connection slots into a broader web of routes: northbound from Viola Place, riders can continue along Lomandra Drive into the airport precinct, or pick up the Jim Soorley Bikeway toward Nundah, Northgate and the Redcliffe Peninsula. Southbound, the path connects to the Moreton Bay Cycleway running toward Redland Bay and the Gateway Bridge, as well as the Southern Cross Way off-road path and on-road options along Lamington Avenue and Kingsford Smith Drive toward Hamilton and Northshore.
Photo Credit: BCC
For Eagle Farm and Pinkenba workers, the Schneider Road connection also creates the first direct off-road cycling link to the TradeCoast Central precinct from the south, avoiding the need to navigate Nudgee Road or Sugarmill Road on-road.
What the New Path Includes
The shared path varies between 2.5 and 3 metres in width, comfortably accommodating cyclists and pedestrians travelling in both directions. The path features solar-powered LED lighting along its full length for safe travel at all hours, a reconstructed weir and new waterway crossing where the path crosses a drainage channel near the Gateway Motorway, a kerb ramp at the Viola Place end for smooth access to the airport’s existing bike lane and footpath, and wayfinding signage and line marking throughout to guide riders unfamiliar with the route. Landscaping and turfing are also included, with minor tree removals carried out in consultation with a qualified arborist during construction.
Connecting Eagle Farm to a 150-Kilometre Network
The Moreton Bay Cycleway spans 150 kilometres of Brisbane’s coastline, connecting the Redcliffe Peninsula, the Sandgate and Shorncliffe foreshore, and the Wynnum and Manly foreshore to one another and to major inner-city bikeways. The cycleway links to the Gateway Bridge Bikeway, Kedron Brook Bikeway, Jim Soorley Bikeway and Gateway North Bikeway, and when complete may become one of the longest cycleways on Australia’s east coast spanning three local government areas.
The Gateway Bridge shared path, free for pedestrians and cyclists, is a busy crossing point used daily by commuter and recreational riders connecting Brisbane’s southside to the northside. With the Schneider Road link now in place, a rider can cross the Gateway Bridge from Murrarie, continue through Eagle Farm under the motorway, and reach the Brisbane Airport precinct, the TradeCoast Central employment hub or the Jim Soorley Bikeway entirely on off-road paths. That seamless connection is what active transport advocates in the area have sought for some time.
Around 25,000 people travel to Brisbane Airport each day for work, a number expected to grow by around 20,000 over the next two decades. Brisbane Airport’s draft 2026 Master Plan includes a series of active transport initiatives across the precinct, aimed at giving workers lower-cost and healthier commuting options as the airport precinct expands.
How to Access the New Path
The new shared path is open at all hours. Riders approaching from the south can access the Schneider Road underpass from Kingsford Smith Drive via Lamington Avenue, or from the Moreton Bay Cycleway running north from the Gateway Bridge. Riders within the airport precinct can connect from Viola Place.
More information is available here. The project team can be reached on 07 3178 5413 during business hours, or 07 3403 8888 at any time.
An Eagle Farm manufacturer has secured a $12 million supply contract with the United Arab Emirates, adding a major Middle Eastern deployment to an export footprint that already spans more than 30 countries.
The agreement will see Brisbane-designed 4×4 equipment from Tough Gear Trading delivered into one of the world’s harshest operating environments. While the company is no stranger to overseas markets, the UAE contract stands out for its scale and logistical complexity, involving fleet-level delivery rather than individual product shipments.
The deal is expected to support skilled manufacturing and project roles in Brisbane, reinforcing the city’s position as a base for specialised, export-focused engineering rather than signalling a first step offshore.
Founded in 2015, Tough Gear Trading is a Brisbane-based, Australian-owned manufacturer supplying vehicle systems to commercial, mining, humanitarian and defence-related clients. Although relatively young as a company, its operations draw on more than 28 years of industry experience across the 4×4, military and heavy-duty vehicle sectors.
Founder Gary Turner began the business as a single-operator venture, before expanding it into a multi-market operation capable of managing large-scale vehicle fit-outs and international deployments.
Today, the company operates across multiple export markets, with projects ranging from individual vehicle builds to full fleet mobilisation. Rather than focusing solely on component supply, the business specialises in end-to-end delivery, coordinating design, manufacturing, compliance and transport for vehicles that must operate reliably in extreme conditions.
Turner said the company’s competitive edge lies in its ability to manage complex, cross-border projects rather than simply shipping products offshore, noting that large contracts often require coordination across manufacturing, logistics and regulatory systems, particularly when vehicles are being delivered into remote or high-stress environments.
The Queensland Government pointed to the UAE contract as an example of targeted trade engagement rather than broad promotional activity, saying recent efforts have focused on identifying markets where Queensland manufacturers already have technical credibility and the capacity to deliver at scale.
Minister for Trade Ros Bates said the state’s approach aims to support companies that are already investing in export capability rather than encouraging speculative expansion, with an emphasis on backing businesses with proven track records so public support delivers measurable commercial outcomes for local industry.
