November Enterprise Evening 2025 - Toowoomba

Join us for our November Enterprise Evening on Tuesday, 4 November in Toowoomba at Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport. 

The evening’s theme will centre around Building Queensland’s Manufacturing Future.

We are pleased to be welcoming keynote speaker, Honourable Dale Last, Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Minister for Manufacturing and Minister for Regional and Rural Development who will share the bold vision to grow and empower Queensland’s manufacturing sector with the recent launch of the Transforming Queensland Manufacturing Strategy.

Honourable Dale Last

Dale Last is the Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Minister for Manufacturing and Minister for Regional and Rural Development.

Born and raised in country Queensland, Dale has dedicated his career to serving regional communities.

Dale joined the Queensland Police Service in 1981 and was awarded the National Police Medal in 1988 for diligent long service to the community.   He was appointed Officer in Charge of Townsville Police Station in 2000, leading frontline law enforcement in Queensland’s largest regional centre.

Following his service in the Queensland Police Service, Dale was elected to Townsville City Council, where he served as both Councillor and Deputy Mayor. In 2015, he was elected to the Queensland Parliament as the Member for Burdekin.

Dale is a fierce advocate for regional communities and rural development. His electorate of Burdekin is home to major resources projects and key transport infrastructure, including numerous mines and the Port of Abbot Point.

Dale lives on a small farm at Alligator Creek with his wife, two of his children and a menagerie including two horses and a pet pig called Honey.

The evening will include speakers and industry leaders including:

• Queensland Government Manufacturing Hub will share insights on enabling economic growth and highlight Toowoomba’s new manufacturing hub capability.

• Paul Watson, Director MQ-28 Production System at Boeing Defence Australia will share insights into the MQ-28 Ghost Bat production facility and the opportunities it brings to our region. Boeing is building a brand new production facility in Toowoomba, to support the manufacture of the MQ-28 - Australia’s first military combat aircraft designed and developed in over 50 years. It is Boeing’s first final assembly facility to be built outside of North America, and is indicative of Boeing’s global focus, and continued commitment to fostering a robust Australian aerospace industry.

• Hutchinson Builders will provide updates on construction and infrastructure developments.

About our panellists:

Paul Watson, Director MQ-28 Production System, Boeing Defence Australia

Paul Watson was appointed director of MQ-28 Productions System in 2022. In this role, he leads the team that designs, implements and operates the production system for the MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed military platform. His role extends from developing the production strategy, securing infrastructure, supply chain sourcing decisions, and production output. He is also required to co-ordinate and lead teams from Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and Boeing Global Services across Melbourne, Brisbane, Amberley and Toowoomba, along with a broad coalition of suppliers throughout Australia.

He rejoins the program, having spent 2017 to 2020 being responsible for building the MQ-28 prototype factory and producing the first aircraft.

Prior to his current role, Watson spent 2020 to 2022 as Director of Boeing Defence Austria’s Aerospace Engineering & Production team, where he delivered aircraft design engineering, continuing airworthiness engineering, production engineering, and production operations capability to defence customers. During his tenure, he secured significant grants for lunar exploration technology development, satellite component additive manufacturing and MQ-28 full rate production facilities.

Geoff Adams, Director Manufacturing South, Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing, Regional and Rural Development (DNRMMRRD)

Geoff joined the Department of State Development (DSD) in May 2001, and has had many roles in developing and implementing, major manufacturing industry development initiatives, “Making Queensland’s Future” – A Manufacturing Development Plan in 2004, the subsequent Advanced Manufacturing Plan in 2008, the involvement of local manufacturers in the CSG/LNG projects expansion and has also managed several other significant sectoral developments, in the Rail Manufacturing, Mining Services and Precision Engineering.

Geoff managed the development and delivery of department’s business capability workshop program for more than seven years, which included the Tendering for Government Business, Capability Statement and Accessing Supply Chain Opportunities workshops.

Sean Lees, Team Leader, Hutchinson Builders

Sean leads Hutchies’ Toowoomba and Rockhampton teams, delivering complex and diverse projects across health, education, residential, modular and community sectors. Whilst having a trade background, Sean also has multiple undergraduate qualifications and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. With more than 20 years’ experience in construction and over a decade at Hutchies, Sean brings deep technical knowledge and a strategic leadership style. His teams construct more than 30 jobs a year and turnover several hundred million dollars.

Along with a very strong presence locally in Toowoomba and Rockhampton, Sean’s known to deliver complex and remote projects in high-pressure environments. Sean has led some of Hutchies’ most logistically challenging builds, including regional hospitals, modular housing, and large-scale community infrastructure.

Thank you to our drink sponsor Hutchinson Builders. 

TSBE Member price: $95 (TSBE Members)
Non-member price: $125

View the TSBE General Attendance Terms and Conditions.