Tamworth is home to more public servants than most places in NSW, which means a planned public sector pay freeze would have a disproportionate economic hit for the region, according to Labor.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The electorate is home to some 5,549 public servants, according to figures shared with the Leader.
That's more than 78 state electorates, with Tamworth home to the 15th highest number of public servants in NSW.
Labor MLC and Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs Mick Veitch said the statistics mean a government plan to freeze public sector wages would hit the region worse than most.
READ MORE:
"This is money that people would spend in regional NSW. It actually stimulates the regional economy, it can create jobs," he said.
"With extra money they pay for their coffees, their newspapers, their meat pies, whatever it is they will spend money in our local economies which provides surety for small business operators and can go to some way to ensure people maintain their jobs in the private sector.
"There is a lot of documentation around that says having a baseline of public service pay in your economy ensures that your economy is stable and you can build on that."
The state government's plan to put a 12-month cap on wage increases was in early June set to be stymied by a motion in the Legislative Council.
But the government has since applied to the Industrial Relations Commission for arbitration to pursue the measure.
MLC Veitch said nobody knows how long that process will take - but the bottom line is that public servants shouldn't expect a pay rise on July 1.
"These public servants are your nurses your paramedics, your hospital cleaners who have all worked really hard during the drought and then the pandemic and then the government rewards them with a pay freeze."
Of the 15 electorates most populated by public servants, six of them are regional or rural, including Tamworth's neighbor the Electoral District of Barwon.
In Tamworth, there are 1,093 people working for the teaching service, 1,795 for local health districts, plus 78 employees of the NSW ambulance service.
Essential Energy employs 124 people in Tamworth.
There are 254 people employed by the NSW Police, and 108 by Fire and Rescue NSW in Tamworth.
Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson was contacted for this story, but did not respond to questions by deadline.
Last month he defended the plan, saying the government had not come to the savings measure lightly.
"Pausing pay rises will enable the government to focus on the stimulation of job creation, which will put NSW in a much stronger position going forward," he said in May.
The pay freeze came in return for a one-off $1000 cheque plus a guarantee that no public servant would be made redundant.
