The public service is a "fifth column that sabotaged" the relocation of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority office from Canberra to Armidale, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce says.
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A fuming Mr Joyce - who is the local MP and moved the authority to his electorate while deputy prime minster - was reacting to Agriculture Minister Murray Watt's decision to block a unique requirement in the public service that APVMA staff be required to be based in Armidale.
On Wednesday, April 17, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt announced the authority would not relocate back to Canberra, despite a damning government report that recommended it be brought back to the capital. It also found the authority has a poor culture and was too close to industry.
But his decision failed to convince Mr Joyce the authority would remain in Armidale for the long haul.
Mr Joyce accused public servants of sabotaging the authority's move from Canberra to the regional city from its inception.
"Public servants have this belief they're entitled to live in Canberra and nowhere else, which is an incredibly patronising attitude to regional Australia and in this case, Armidale," Mr Joyce said.
"They work like the fifth column, the public sector union saw the move as a threat to jobs in Canberra and sabotaged the move, with little regard to the dynamics of decentralisation."
Mr Joyce's decision to move the authority from Canberra to Armidale proved fraught from the beginning.
In 2016 a government policy order called for the authority to relocate to a "regional town within 10 kilometres of a regional university with agricultural science credentials" - in other words, Armidale.
That requirement is being removed.
As deputy prime minister, Mr Joyce earmarked $25.6 million in funding over six years to support the authority's relocation into his electorate.
Mysterious circumstances
A purpose built office was built on the site of the old Armidale Club, which burned down in mysterious circumstances in September 2016.
Staff relocating from Canberra to Armidale in 2017 were forced to temporarily use the city's McDonald's restaurant because of a lack of office space.
Nevertheless the relocation gathered pace and by 2022, 152 authority staff were employed in NSW and 43 in the ACT.
But Mr Joyce questioned the validity of those figures.
He claimed not all of those 152 staff were based in Armidale.
"At a Senate estimates hearing, we were told that last year the authority employed an extra 38 people; 22 of whom ended up in Canberra," Mr Joyce said.
"Fourteen of those extra people were employed at an executive level and 13 are based in Canberra.
"Even the new boss can work from Canberra."
Mr Joyce questioned how the authority could continue to operate efficiently when most of its executive level staff were in Canberra.
Armidale Regional Council mayor also expressed scepticism over Mr Watt's decision to retain the authority's office in Armidale.
"I have this nagging concern that there is a really myopic view, pervasive in Canberra, that unless you're based in that 2600 postcode you're just camping out, or a mere curiosity," Mr Coupland told the ABC.
"So I really need this positive decision to be backed up with effectively affirmative action to make sure the [chief executive and the chief operating officer] are based here and not in Canberra, and that recruitment happens with a genuine bias towards Armidale."
Scathing report
The Rapid Evaluation report, conducted by Ken Matthews, found that the APVMA has an extremely high level of staff turnover, which is the result of the workplace culture, unreasonable expectation to meet 100 per cent of time frames and the 2019 relocation from Canberra to Armidale.
Senator Watt said: "We want the APVMA to remain headquartered here in Armidale. This building that we're standing here in still has 10 years to run on its lease. The APVMA is going to be here for a long time.
"I recognise that there's been a lot of work done by the new management to forge some really strong connections with the University of New England, as well, based here in Armidale to ensure that there's job opportunities for some of their graduates in scientific and other areas."
Addressing the forced element on the original move, the minister said the "one of its kind in the entire public service" restriction which required workers to be based in Armidale will be removed.
"Already nearly 40 per cent of APVMA staff are based outside Armidale, but it is my expectation that the majority of workers will remain here in Armidale at the organisation's headquarters," he said.
"The vast majority of that other 40 per cent are based in Canberra, with a relatively small number based in other locations as well."
Asked if he expects staff to start moving back to Canberra particularly over past allegations, the minister said, "I certainly hope not, that that doesn't occur. "