Armidale's Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) building was officially opened on Friday morning, about three months after being completed and occupied by its federal government department.
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Federal Minister for Agriculture Bridget McKenzie, Member for New England Barnaby Joyce, Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall and Armidale Regional Council Mayor Simon Murray were all present at the event.
Ms McKenzie described Friday's the event as not just a housewarming, but history being made.
"The APVMA is the centrepiece of our government's decentralisation agenda," she said.
"This building is so much more than 2000 square metres of office space.
"It represents a vibrant hub where efficient regulation could drive agricultural productivity and deliver environmental, economic and health benefits for rural and regional Australia, the nation, and indeed, the World."
Ms McKenzie said those who believed in science should be very proud advocates of its role in decision and policy making.
"I really do believe we are at a critical point for science's role and promotion in public debate," she said.
"Being closer to the regions means we better understand the views, the needs, the experiences of the people we serve.
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"Today proved if you have confidence in rural and regional Australia, it will always deliver, and Armidale, you have delivered in spades."
Member for New England Barnaby Joyce said APVMA was a great laurel for the people of Armidale.
"There are 130 people here now, and we all did that. I took some glee talking to the Canberra Times the other day, when I said 'I would like to give you a personal thank you because all those articles you wrote deriding it were advertising.'," he said.
"The next step is to build upon it by making this a global centre of excellence in agrivet chemicals.
"We've got the university, the CSIRO and now the APVMA, and I am now fighting to get the CRC research centre for agrivet chemicals in here."
He said it was all about attracting the very best in their fields to Armidale so that chemical companies themselves would want to be near the regulator.
"People may say that's far fetched, but it's not really; BASF is already at Tamworth, so they are already nearby," he said.
Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall described the addition of new jobs to the region as magnificent.
"We've seen over 100 jobs here, which is terrific and comes on the back of the decentralisation effort from the State Government of TAFE Digital with its 54 full-time jobs here," Mr Marshall said.
"Especially at times like this in severe drought where we've got a sharp economic downturn ... an injection of new jobs and extra pay cheques flowing through the local community is a great thing.
"I'm really glad to see it's finally here and up and running."
Armidale Regional Council Mayor Simon Murray agreed with Mr Marshall. He thought it was good to see the department operate out of its own building and have be so close to the expertise at UNE.
"When you think about the number of rural-based CRCs that have been run at the University of New England, they've always been at the top of the research in agriculture," he said.
"This is cementing the fact that we are trying to drive an agricultural hub around here."