THE Tamworth region has lost about 200 public sector jobs in the last six years, the services’ union claims.
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Fairfax Media obtained the figures after mayor Col Murray said Tamworth has been “treated unfairly” when it came to decentralising government jobs.
His comments were backed by Public Service Association (PSA) organiser Stephen Mears.
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“There’s close to 200 gone in the last six years, which is unsustainable,” Mr Mears told The Leader.
He said the cuts ranged across a range of departments, including TAFE, primary industries and Ageing Disability and HomeCare. He said there was “shortfalls in just about every department” he visits.
“I don’t think there’s been a single agency added to our list other than Service NSW and that’s come as a result of a lot of agencies being cut,” he said.
Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson doubted Cr Murray’s claim the city had lost more government jobs than it had gained and pointed to increased numbers of police, paramedics, teachers and nurses.
He said decentralising whole departments was “fraught with problems”, but there was merit in relocating parts of agencies out of the city.
“Say, for example, the department of planning, why can’t we have the agriculture, mining, resources components of that department come here,” he said.
New England MP Barnaby Joyce has long advocated for decentralisation and signed-off on moving the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) from Canberra to Armidale, when he was agriculture minister. He said Tamworth needed to be strategic about what it wanted.
“I’ve had the conversation with Col, and I’ve said ‘you’ve got to target what section of what department you want here’,” Mr Joyce said.
“In the past, when I was in the ministry, we had 27 sections of government that could move out to regional areas.
“Now, I don’t know what happened to those 27 sections of government, but I think as I disappeared, probably they did too.”
Mr Joyce said Tamworth had to look at where its strengths lie before calling out for agencies to relocate.
“We’re expanding the airport so it’s going to be a centre of excellence for both training and maintenance in the aircraft industry,” he said.
“So therefore, you look at things such as where is CASA based and why.”