A Tamworth councillor is livid that none of the 100 jobs at the recently-created Department of Regional NSW will go to Tamworth.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The full-time positions were awarded to Armidale instead, after Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall wrangled a deal with Deputy Premier John Barilaro.
The loss would have a significant impact on Tamworth Regional Council's (TRC) goal of 100,000 people by 2041, Cr Mark Rodda said.
"I don't want to get entwined in the Armidale versus Tamworth debate, it has things going for it that we don't, like a superior NBN service," he said.
READ MORE:
"But surely the NSW Nationals sit around a table to divvy up jobs, if I was in [Tamworth MP] Kevin Anderson's place I would be fighting for those positions.
"That's what we elect local members for, to do the bidding and if we are missing out on a huge economic stimulus of 100 jobs we need to ask why we are missing out."
The Express contacted Mr Anderson for comment but did not receive a response before this article went to press.
The economic shot-in-the-arm for Armidale was announced on Friday by Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall.
Mr Marshall said the move was a "huge coup" that would put our city at the forefront of government decision-making.
It's not the first growth opportunity that Tamworth has lost to Armidale.
Armidale was chosen for the Department of Regional NSW because the community stands to benefit from a strong state government presence, a spokesman for Deputy Premier John Barilaro said.
"The Department of Regional NSW and the NSW government already have a significant presence in Tamworth," he said.
Cr Rodda said decentralisation was great but the love needed to be shared further.
"If these departments are going to Armidale because of its communication structure with better NBN, we need to make it clear that fibre to the node hasn't worked," he said.
"We need help from the state government and I don't think we are seeing that from our elected officials."