And he has blasted Independent State Member for Dubbo Dawn Fardell for suggesting the job cuts are linked to privatisation.

“It is ridiculous for Ms Fardell to put a notice of motion to the NSW Parliament calling on me to make individual apologies to the people who have lost their jobs,’’ Mr Cobb said.

“She is playing silly games and doesn’t have the guts to offend her Labor Party mates.

“Ms Fardell should be hooking into the State and Federal governments over the way infrastructure money is being spent or speaking out against the 20 per cent rise in electricity that will have a far greater effect on business productivity in the region.’’

Member for Parkes Mark Coulton weighed into the argument too, condemning Ms Fardell for not asking Labor allies or Independents why they voted to remove the Telstra privatisation infrastructure fund.

“The Nationals supported the sale of Telstra to gain $2.8 billion to keep rural services going but the Rudd Government raided the fund last year and put the money into general infrastructure,’’ he said.

Despite the Nationals’ outburst, Ms Fardell doesn’t back away from her belief that local Telstra workers are suffering the fall-out of privatisation.

“Telstra ended up with a chief executive officer on a huge salary and payout,’’ she said. “The company is focused on shareholders, not services. A NSW Farmer’s Association survey demonstrated 82 per cent of members were against the sale of Telstra, just as they stood opposed to the single desk for wheat marketing.

“It is wrong to suggest that I support Labor on either a State or federal level.’’