Lord Mayor's Column: Wollongong to the World

With just over a year under my belt as Lord Mayor, and as I gear up for an exciting year ahead, this week has been a great opportunity to reflect on the year that was and all our achievements in the last quarter of 2025.

In addition to Council meetings, Citizenship Ceremonies, media events and interviews, I attended over 100 meetings and events and got the great privilege to meet with so many people across our community.

Some of the key highlights of the last few months included my visit to Kawasaki in Japan, with whom we have a long-standing connection and Sister City relationship with since 1988.

In response to an invitation to mark Kawasaki’s 100th anniversary in 2024, I had the fantastic opportunity to visit the city to learn more about how they’re supporting their community with diverse housing, and their construction and planning of community facilities.

We also had important conversations around the Port and the cruise industry as, like Wollongong, Kawasaki is a port city. It’s also an important hub for maritime transportation and logistics and is closely connected to the industrial areas of greater Tokyo.

With international relationships in our sights, we also were the proud hosts of the 2025 World Triathlon Championships which put Wollongong on the global stage once again and we welcomed thousands of international visitors to our city.

There was such a fascinating mix of people from across the world, and we experienced such a buzz across the city during the event. I enjoyed walking around talking to visitors and locals, and I loved seeing so many people enjoying themselves.

The excitement for major events continued in the last quarter of 2025 with the city hosting a number of sporting events including the Diamonds Netball match, the Australian Darts Masters and Australian Junior Surfing Titles.

It was great to see Wollongong cement itself firmly on the map as a destination for major events, bringing domestic and international visitors to our city and showcasing our region to the nation and the world.

It was an action-packed end to the year, but I am looking forward to an even bigger 2026!