With an increasing – and increasingly high-profile – Indian sub-continental population in the region, Cr Chowdhury seeks to set the tone for the future, as Dubbo Regional Council’s financial figures for last financial year contain few surprises.

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Chowdhury aims high

While conscientious Dubbo councillor Shibli Chowdhury is the first local representative from the region’s fast-growing Indian sub-continent population, he definitely doesn’t want to be the last!

Confirming that he is running again at the September 2028 poll, he believes future potential nominees for local government from our Indian, Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, and Pakistani communities, may be judged against his own performance.

While Dubbo councillors – certainly when compared to other local government areas – are generally pretty good at getting back to pesky journalists who are after a quote or a comment, Cr Chowdhury is probably the most conscientious of the bunch.

Originally from Bangladesh before migrating to Australia and then later making the move west, his first taste of the region was in fact by government order.

“In 2009 I first came to Sydney, and it was in 2012 that I then arrived in Dubbo,” Cr Chowdhury explained.

“This was due to my immigration status, where I was required to move to a country town or region for permanent residency,” he added.

It did not take long for the new arrival to make his home in the region, revealing that Dubbo has many qualities that appeals to those from sub-continental cultures.

“I think the major attraction is that our communities like working together, and regardless of wherever we come from, everyone tries to help each other,” Cr Chowdhury explained.

“Compared to other regional cities, there’s also lots of multicultural events organised by groups like ORISCON (Orana Residents of Indian Sub-Continental Heritage), maybe even one or two a month.”

He added that the hospitable nature of the district is one of the reasons why Dubbo is now a favoured city for sub-continental migrants to relocate.

“It’s very welcoming, also there’s a strong sense of togetherness, with the multicultural community very involved with the local community,” Cr Chowdhury observed.

“That’s also why they are involved in a lot of businesses around here employing a lot of local people, and also why there are so many local organisations, such as the Bangladeshi Community in Dubbo (BCID) group.”

He said that another way in which migrants from south Asia become actively involved in Australian life is through a strong commitment to volunteering.

“I enjoy it. I first got involved in areas like hospital committees, the Rotary Club, Clean-Up Australia Day, things like that.

“I did these for seven or eight years, and then people started to say to me, ‘why don’t you run for council?’,” Cr Chowdhury recalled.

Loving the work, he is now encouraging others from South Asian backgrounds to consider running for local government. He said that keeping himself available for locals to contact is simply part of the job description.

“It’s pretty much a fulltime job and to do it properly, you have to keep yourself busy,” he revealed.

“Absolutely, I don’t want to be a lifelong councillor, I’ll do say another term, and that’ll be it, then I want others to step up."

He said that this is the role he has set himself, to do the job well, so as to make it easier for those who follow in his footsteps.

“I try and work hard to set a good example so that those from my background, can be trusted and thought well of,” Cr Chowdhury said.

“If I do the job well, it will be easier for those in future generations to also get elected,” he concluded

The hard numbers show that he is in fact unlikely to be the last from the South Asian community to get elected in Dubbo. With the wider Indian sub-continent population in the region now in the thousands rather than the hundreds and growing every year, we may reasonably expect more people from those diasporas to grace local – and also state and federal governments – representing the Orana in the future.

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No surprises in Council finances

Local government financial statements on the state of play for the region should ideally have no surprises in them, and that’s certainly the case for the latest council figures.

The latest Annual Presentation of Financial Statement for Dubbo was released last week. Income for 2025/2026 financial year compared to the previous 2024/2025, year, is up in line with inflation, with total equity also up by a similar figure.

While the net operating result for the year – for things like income, expenses, and deprecation – is down from $60 million in 2024/2025 to $46 million for 2025/2026, that result – minus grants for capital works – is actually up by more than $16 million.

This indicates that council hasn’t been getting anything like as much state and federal government dosh for major infrastructure works like roads, airports, sewerage and water, and bridges, an issue that dogs all councils throughout NSW. The statement was to be presented to Tuesday’s full council meeting.

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Changes to traffic conditions on Yarrandale Road

Finally, council is doing a bit of work over the coming weeks on Yarrandale Road.

The work is to, as council’s media release stated, “facilitate construction of the Yarrandale Road Recycled Water Filling Station”.

The project is described as "a specialised truck-loading facility designed to dispense high-quality treated wastewater for commercial and industrial use".

Works started last week and will go until early November, with traffic control including stop/go and intermittent lane closures, in place as required.