What does it take to find a place that truly feels like home? For Mobile Plant Technician, Kyle Thomson, it was trading one small town for an even smaller one! After a work injury, Kyle made the move to Quilpie and quickly found more than just a job. He found a welcoming community, a better work-life balance, and a down-to-earth team that looks after its people.
A fresh start
Kyle has never been one for the bright lights of the big city. Born and raised in Yarraman, a rural town northwest of Brisbane, he’s always preferred peace and quiet over hustle and bustle. But there was one place that offered an even greater chance for the life he wanted to live: Quilpie.
“Twelve years ago, my parents went on a working holiday. They got to Quilpie the second week, and they haven’t gone anywhere since,” Kyle says. “I came out to visit them over the years. I just liked the place and decided to shift.”
Kyle had spent 13 years as a mechanic working on heavy vehicles, but a back injury meant he could no longer drag himself under trucks and earthmoving equipment. So, when he first arrived in Quilpie in 2024, he took a step back and worked for himself, doing odd jobs.
Then, when the role of Mobile Plant Technician came up at Quilpie Shire Council, it offered exactly what he was looking for: greater stability, the chance to be part of a real team, and the balance to enjoy the life he wanted.
“You’re set on a time, you have your half-hour break, you’ve got your fortnightly RDO. If you’ve got problems and need time off, they look after you.”
Kyle is also now on the way to owning his own home through a unique Quilpie Shire initiative that offers houses to employees.
“When Council decides to sell one of their older houses, they put it to tender for workers first before they offer it to the public,” Kyle explains. “They give you all the information on the place so you can make an offer, and if they accept it, they ring you up with the good news.”
Kyle was fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of that good news and now lives in his own slice of Outback paradise.
“It’s a little three-bedroom house and not bad at all,” he says. “It’s probably a kilometre, if that, from the workshop. They keep all the council houses pretty well maintained, so there’s generally not much you’ve got to do to them. Yep, so I’m pretty well set up now.”
A team that believes in excellence
Having spent most of his working life in Brisbane Valley farming country, Kyle was used to working on beat-up vehicles that “never saw water or grease”. At Quilpie Shire, he gets to service and repair a range of top-quality fleet and light vehicles – making his job significantly easier.
“We’ve got Toyota Hiluxes, Ford Rangers, dual trailers and all-terrain vehicles – I work on all of them. Everything is all maintained, everything’s greased, it all comes apart like it should, so you’re not getting cranky trying to do stuff,” he laughs.
Kyle was pleasantly surprised by the exceptionally high standard of the workshop at Quilpie Shire, proving that although we’re a small council, we proudly punch above our weight.
“Quilpie definitely has one of the best set-up workshops,” Kyle says. “Everything’s new and in date. It’s got evaporative air-conditioning, so you just crank that up and it keeps the place pretty cool.”
Since joining Quilpie Shire, Kyle has also been encouraged to upskill and make his role his own.
“I’ve been to a Hastings training course down at Roma and I got my forklift ticket. They offer all of that – truck licences, machinery licences. If you need any assistance with getting any of those, they’ll help you as best they can.”
A lifestyle worth moving for
Quilpie is the kind of place where people get together and make their own fun – and that’s just how Kyle likes it. After knock-off and on weekends, you’ll often find him clay target shooting with the Quilpie Sporting Clays Club, playing lawn bowls or fishing for yellowbelly at Bulloo River just outside of town.
“Lifestyle is the biggest thing here. It’s a real nice town; you fit in real easy. Everyone will come up and have a yarn with you, and if you go to a club or an event, you always leave with more mates than you started off with.”
Plus, with zero traffic, fresh air and vast skies, Kyle says he wouldn’t live or work anywhere else.
“Yeah, I love it out here. If you need to do basic clothes shopping, you just travel to Charleville, which is about two hours. And if you really want to go out and do a proper big shop, you head out to Roma, which is about 4.5 hours away. You make a weekend of it and treat yourself. I’d much rather that than deal with traffic any day.”
