Agriculture minister David Littleproud says the pesticides authority's move to Armidale will proceed, despite calls from Labor for the Coalition to renege after the resignation of the project's champion Barnaby Joyce from the Nationals leadership.
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Mr Littleproud said the move would continue as it was revealed the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority will spend nearly $1 million on leasing and fitting out its temporary digs in Armidale for more staff as it prepares to move into its permanent new home by mid-2019.
APVMA chief executive Chris Parker told a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday that $128,000 of the sum would go to consultancy costs, and fees for authorising the building works, while another $231,000 would cover construction.
The spending, which will let the authority house 55 staff at its temporary home, would also cover equipment to be used in its permanent new building in Armidale and not just its interim building shared with the Department of Human Services, Dr Parker said.
He said the authority had asked for the early release of $4.62 million from $25 million budgeted for the relocation as it negotiated a contract for its new permanent building
Mr Littleproud reaffirmed the agency's move would continue, despite calls from ACT-based Labor MPs for the government to reverse its decision after Mr Joyce went to the backbench on Monday.
"The APVMA's performance continues to improve and the Coalition's decentralisation promise continues to be delivered," the minister said.
Dr Parker also told senators the majority of the 42 staff that had left the agency since July 2017 - a figure that included nine regulatory scientists - had likely resigned because they didn't want to move north with it from Canberra, although he added some would also have decided to leave for more senior positions.
He admitted the agency was not routinely conducting exit interviews with departing staff and that he could not give the exact number leaving because of the relocation.
Earlier in a statement, he said retaining staff and managing departures remained a key business risk for the authority.
The APVMA has asked staff to indicate whether they will join its forced relocation to Armidale, and has 15 staff working in the town, including two that have already moved from the national capital.
Dr Parker said he expected to have 40 public servants there by the end of the year and 150 when its move is scheduled to finish by July 2019.
While the agency has previously left open the door to hiring staff from outside Australia as it moved, Dr Parker told senators he had no specific overseas recruitment strategy, and had two staff working on 457 visas.
The agency boss defended a $32,000 per annum allowance available to him for accommodation in Armidale, saying that his decision to live both there and in Canberra was the most cost-effective way to run the agency as it moved.
Dr Parker would not reveal the preferred supplier negotiating a contract for its permanent new building in Armidale, but said he expected to announce the deal and its details within two weeks.
Three sites and four development proposals were short-listed late last year.
