PRIMARY Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson told a parliamentary inquiry that regardless of its finding, the Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre would be closed.
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The statement brought gasps from centre staff, who packed the public gallery for the hearing at Parliament House on Monday evening.
"It is not for a public servant to decide where they are located in NSW, I am sorry, with all due respect," she said towards the end of the hearing.
"The government sets a policy direction, the directors-general undertake the discussions with the staff, and the movement that had to occur as a result of that decision being made.
"The decision was made 12 months ago. It was a decision of the government, and the decentralisation will be proceeding, regardless of the recommendations made by this committee, with all due respect."
Asked by committee chairman Fred Nile to still give serious consideration to their report, she said she would would treat it "with the due respect and reverence that you will put into it".
In her opening statement, Ms Hodgkinson said the government would "not shy away from this difficult decision".
So far, 37 employees had accepted the offer to relocate, nine had already moved and more would make a decision soon.
Coastal communities of Nowra, Port Stephens and Coffs Harbour were excited by the injection of new jobs.
"The long-term benefits of the relocation to these regional communities will far outweigh any one-off relocation costs," she said.
Ms Hodgkinson tabled a cost-benefit analysis, completed that day, which found moving the work carried out at the centre to other locations would provide taxpayers with a net benefit of $4.4 million over 20 years.
She said this was a conservative figure, and no attempt had been made to value a number of other intangible benefits.
These included the net benefit to regional communities involved, community access to the Cronulla site, greater synergies and collaboration with universities, improved relations with commercial fishers through greater access and more efficient service delivery through greater understanding of regional issues.
The costings were rejected as "dodgy" by Labor committee member and former fisheries minister Steve Whan, who claimed there was a "black hole" of at least $9 million, resulting in a net loss of $4.9 million.
Ms Hodgkinson said former premiers Nick Greiner and Bob Carr had both "looked at doing something" with the Cronulla site.
However, she insisted the present government's decision to close the facility was never about its future use, but rather about decentralisation.
Director-general of the Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services, Mark Patterson, supported the minister, saying it was "not a real estate play".
Ms Hodgkinson said a report on potential future uses for the site, which was being prepared by an independent consultant, would be completed by the end of this month.