THE frontline staff of Griffith’s condemned research facility, who are now faced with relocation or redundancies, were promised their jobs would not be affected by the NSW Government’s mini-budget, according to an insider.

The source, who declined to be named, said the 15 people employed at the Centre for Irrigated Agriculture were weighing up whether to uproot themselves, and in some cases their families, or accept the voluntary redundancies on offer.

“The staff have been told that the Griffith office is to be closed and sold and that they are to relocate to Yanco, despite continuously being promised all frontline services would not be affected by any mini-budget,” the source said.

“All of the staff that I’ve talked to, which is everyone, are not interested in moving away from Griffith. They’ve been here for a long time, they own homes and some of the people have kids who go to school here.”

The source said the region’s farmers would be worse off regardless of whether the employees take their knowledge and experience to the commercial sector or make the move to Yanco.

“If staff accept voluntary redundancies then their position is made redundant, so that position is not refilled.

“That means that for the staff that do stay with the Department of Primary Industries, it will be a lot harder for them to do their jobs.

“On the one hand, the government’s saying they have to move further away from their core business, but at the same time slashing the budget they have to work with. Their legs are tied together and they’re being asked to run faster.”

The insider said the employees hoped the closure could be averted if enough pressure was placed on Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald.

“If the government had to sell the whole lot – the farm and the offices – then ideally they would still be located in Griffith.”