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A government push to bring public service jobs to regional cities “is going beautifully” in Wagga, according to former MP Kay Hull.
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As former Member for Riverina, Ms Hull knows all too well the benefits of regional life and as the chair of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), she has seen first-hand how public service jobs can be moved west.
“Not all of the expertise resides in Canberra,” Ms Hull said.
“The people who moved to Canberra for a job are the same sort of people who will move to Wagga, or Armidale, or Dubbo. We had no shortage of amazing applications.”
Last week, Nationals senator Fiona Nash put government agencies and departments on notice, saying they would be moved to the bush if they couldn’t justify why they needed to be in Canberra.
It came after Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce announced a “Get Out of the City” campaign, saying the solutions to Sydney’s housing affordability crisis was in regional NSW.
NSW Business Chamber chief Stephen Cartwright said decentralisation would lead to greater confidence and economic growth in regional areas.
“There are regional centres right across NSW that can benefit from these moves,” Mr Cartwright said.
“So long as the economics of a move stack up and services are maintained or are improved, decentralisation can have a positive impact – both on agency staff and the regional communities.”
However, not everyone has been on board with the decentralisation campaign, with Labor and the public service union opposing any changes to the status quo. Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) chief Kareena Arthy chose to quit rather than face a forced move to Armidale, which led to Shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon calling for the Prime Minister to intervene.
Despite the opposition from Canberra-based public servants, several people have come out in support of the move, including celebrity gardener Don Burke and controversial media identity Miranda Devine.
In a Sunday Telegraph opinion piece, Ms Devine criticised “smug, entitled public servants living high on the hog” and pointed out average wages were $11,000 higher than the national average.
“Those who have moved here are loving it and they have said so,” Ms Hull said of the RIRDC workers who abandoned Canberra.
“It’s a great success story, we’ve saved $1.2 million just by coming to Wagga and that money will go into research and investment, not high rents and wages.”