Ipswich primed to be Queensland’s manufacturing and defence capital

Published on 09 April 2026

Ipswich is positioned to be the manufacturing and defence capital of Queensland with an 8,000-hectare future supply of industrial land.

With the largest area of land earmarked as developable for commercial and industrial purposes than any other city in South East Queensland, Ipswich City Council has outlined its competitive advantages in a new investment prospectus, The City of Ipswich: Space to Grow.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the city is uniquely positioned to attract advanced manufacturing, defence, production, innovation and logistics.

“Ipswich is in a prime position to help bring manufacturing back to Queensland and Australia,” Mayor Harding said.

“As a proven location for industry to thrive, Ipswich is HQ to operations of companies including Goodman Group, Coles, Suntory Oceania, JBS, Rheinmetall, L’Oréal Groupe, Australia Post, FedEx, TAE Aerospace, Visy, CHEP, Sunny Queen, Bombadier, DB Schenker and Bapcor. Officeworks and Asahi are also building large-scale facilities in Ipswich.

“Manufacturing and defence are our city’s biggest industries, contributing about 60 per cent of our $8 billion in annual exports, and we are hungry more of this type of investment.

“With a potential industrial land supply of 7,923 hectares – a supply bigger than that of all other South East Queensland local government areas combined – we have space planned for new commercial and industrial centres.

“The region overall is facing challenges when it comes to industrial land supply, with Brisbane predicted to run out in a matter of a few years.

“Ipswich stands ready to cater for the land requirements of a range of industries. Our city has a proud history of manufacturing and it remains one of the largest employers of any industry in our city.

“We want to ensure Ipswich is the manufacturing and defence capital of Queensland, so that investment flows through our economy and leads to job opportunities for our residents, while also benefitting our fast-growing region and country more broadly.”

Mayor Harding said greenfield supply is just one of many reasons Ipswich is an attractive place for business.

“The City of Ipswich: Space to Grow investment prospectus highlights our city’s unique strengths as a location for investment including workforce opportunities and geographical advantages, as well as our growth mindset when it comes to business,” Mayor Harding said.

“We have a strong local workforce supply with a population of 270,000 on track to double to more than half a million by 2046 driven by priority residential growth areas, of a median age lower than that of Queensland overall.

“Our location bordering the Brisbane, Logan, Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley and Somerset local government areas provides connectivity to a catchment of millions of people, and a gateway to the state’s west.

“Ipswich has a booming economy of $15 billion, growing at 4.2 per cent annually with more than 13,000 businesses and 95,000 jobs, and we’re excited for others to join us on this journey of growth.

“Through our Economic Development Incentive Policy, we will continue to attract high value projects to Ipswich that drive job creation, capital investment and support the growth of our local industries.”

John Gualtieri, Managing Director, Officeworks, explained why Ipswich was chosen for the location of the company’s new Omnichannel Distribution Centre, being built at Redbank Motorway Estate.

“This is a significant investment in the future of Officeworks and in how we better serve our customers across every channel to bring their big ideas to life,” Mr Gualtieri said.

“Located in Redbank, with strong access to key transport links and a growing local workforce, this highly automated, future-ready Omnichannel Distribution Centre will help simplify our operations, create hundreds of local jobs, and support our team with a safer and more modern workplace.”

Jess Caire, Queensland Executive Director, Property Council of Australia has endorsed The City of Ipswich: Space to Grow investment prospectus.

“Ipswich’s scale, land availability and industrial capability position it as a natural home for Queensland’s next phase of manufacturing and defence investment,” Ms Caire said.

“As pressure builds on industrial land supply across South East Queensland, Ipswich stands out as one of the few locations able to accommodate major employers at the scale they need.

“This kind of long term, jobs focused investment is critical to strengthening productivity, supply chains and economic resilience for the entire region.”

View Ipswich City Council’s investment prospectus, The City of Ipswich: Space to Grow, here. To be part of Ipswich’s growth journey, contact invest@ipswich.qld.gov.au