“I think it’s a shame for the business community in Griffith that he’s the face of the business chamber,” Mr Piccoli said. “All he offers is criticism, no solutions, nothing constructive. I look at Wagga Business Chamber and Deniliquin Business Chamber, who are doing great things for their communities and here’s Griffith with a list of whinges and personal attacks.”

Mr Piccoli said Mr Pittavino needed to “get over” the 1999 NSW election.

“Pat needs to get over the fact that I beat him comprehensively in the 1999 election,” he said.

According to Mr Piccoli, Mr Pittavino was the Labor candidate at the time and the recent attacks were simply sour grapes.

“Is this the best leadership the chamber can offer?” Mr Piccoli asked. “The business community should be challenging the chamber to be constructive and to work with government and council like other successful chambers in the region. They’ve got to get on with promoting business in Griffith rather than wasting time on personal attacks.”

The past five years had been a critical time for the region, Mr Piccoli said, but being inside the state leadership group had given him the ability to successfully argue his case.

“I absolutely think I’ve represented my electorate well,” Mr Piccoli said. “It’s been critical to not only be in cabinet as the local member but also to be in the leadership group where a lot of decisions, like local government amalgamations, are made. You don’t get everything you want in politics but I think the region has benefited substantially by having a coalition government in the first place and then me being in cabinet helps as well.”

Mr Piccoli said he was in constant contact with peak irrigation groups during the Murray-Darling Basin Plan negotiations.

“We held out for a long time until we got the best deal we could get,” he said.

“I was in constant contact with irrigation stakeholders and we did not sign it until they were happy for it to be signed.”

Mr Piccoli also pointed to recent funding for Griffith, including the more than $700,000 for the airport.

“The Exies Club is shortlisted for $1 million to upgrade the oval, and in fact the Murrumbidgee Valley was the biggest beneficiary of the basin diversification fund,” he said.

“Even as Minister for Education, our electorate is $2.5 million better off this year than it was last year, the equivalent of an additional 25 schoolteachers.

“Schools in this electorate have never had as much money as they do now.”

At the end of the day, he said, he had an electorate covering about 110,000 square kilometres.

“It’s about more than just Griffith,” he said.