Jeffreson blames coalition as union claims Wagga research jobs set to be axed

Earlier this month the Public Service Association (PSA) released a statement asserting 10 local jobs will go at the Grains Agronomy and Pathology Partnership (GAPP) at the end of this financial year. The union claims 20 more jobs will be axed at Tamworth.

Mr Jeffreson said the claims are a testament to how the Coalition Government operates and that it is "asleep at the wheel while the economy moves on around it".

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"Now more jobs are in jeopardy as a result," he said.

Responding to the claims this month, Minister for Agriculture Dugald Saunders said, "I am advised the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is currently negotiating with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GDRC) regarding a future partnership."

In recent days PSA assistant secretary Troy Wright wrote to the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce calling for something to be done.

"Barnaby Joyce needs to get state and federal Agriculture Ministers David Littleproud and Dugald Saunders in a room to sort this out," Mr Wright said.

"The call on our farmers is simple, make do with higher heat and lower rain but with the same timely yield. But they need back-up to achieve this. These researchers are at the cutting edge of cropping research, yet they are constantly looking back to make sure their stapler hasn't been repossessed by their funding body."

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