The staff attended a management “road show” at Armidale last Thursday, where they were informed of the job losses.
The office has five staff, but only three positions will be available when the re-structure occurs.
Of those three positions one current staff member will remain in the same position while those remaining will only be eligible to apply for one of the other positions.
The job losses are part of a wider de-centralisation within sections under the Department of Primary Industries banner.
So far the Crown Lands and Office of Water have been affected.
Up to three Office of Water positions will be lost across the North West, although a spokesperson reported no Moree staff would be affected.
In the Crown Lands offices 12 positions will be lost across Tamworth, Moree and Armidale, with 20 positions lost state-wide.
Delegate of the Public Service Association and Crown Lands employee Wal Smith said the re-structuring was the largest the office had experienced.
“Only one member of the Crown Lands staff in Moree will not be affected, the remainder will have to work through the draft placement process,” he said.
Mr Smith said the staff had been informed that the administration component held at Moree would be moved to Dubbo and some road closing work moved to Grafton.
He said the de-centralisation was to save costs and was budget driven.
“(The DPI) is trying to de-centralise but they don’t seem to be considering the public in the process,” Mr Smith said.
“They want to transfer from customer oriented service to a focus on online information and processing.”
He said the loss of Crown Lands staff would be a great loss for the Moree community.
“We are here in the community, we know the area and the people, which makes us more effective in dealing with landholders.
“It is a loss of employment in Moree which affects the community as well as it has a flow-on effect to other businesses.”
The DPI has defended the changes, with a spokesperson saying, “administrative services (will) be more efficiently delivered through the business centres at Newcastle and Dubbo”.
Mr Smith said the staff members had been “devastated, upset and shocked” at the sudden impact of the re-structure.
He said the Public Service Association would have liked to have had more involvement in protecting staff through the re-structure but could not change things at this late stage.
Any staff unable to secure the remaining position could either apply for voluntary redundancy or be placed on a re-deployment list for a position elsewhere - if one is available.
The staff expressed disappointment at being forced to uproot their families if they wished to keep their jobs.
“It appears at this stage that all of the staff wish to stay in Moree,” Mr Smith said.
