The pandemic has pushed people to relocate from Sydney to regional New South Wales, according to Paul Toole, the state's Deputy Premier.
In electioneering mode, he announced that the relatively new Department of Regional NSW now employs 133 people in Queanbeyan, up from 27 jobs 18 months ago.
Sydneysiders were increasingly seeing the advantages of regional NSW over the big city, he maintained.
The Minister said that the state government's plan was not to increase the number of Queanbeyan employees from 133 but to consolidate all the department's staff on one site.
Mr Toole made the announcement at a media event alongside Nichole Overall as she campaigned as the Nationals candidate to succeed John Barilaro in the Monaro seat.
Her and the Minister's pitch was that the Nationals have fought for regional New South Wales, and COVID had only enhanced its advantages over metropolitan Sydney.
"People want to live and work in regional New South Wales," the Minister said.
"People are moving here from Sydney," the candidate said. "We are seeing much more of that occur because of COVID."
She said the "push for the bush" involved emphasising the lifestyle advantages of Queanbeyan. It was a place with a sense of community. Technology meant it was easy to live in places like Queanbeyan but work for city-based organisations.
"We are the gateway to Canberra. We could be the gateway to Sydney as well," she said.
Queanbeyan is one of four "hubs" for the Department of Regional NSW which was founded in April 2020 by bringing together work done in a variety of different departments. The other "hubs" are in Armidale, Dubbo and Coffs Harbour.
One of the department's managers who relocated from Sydney said there were great coffee shops in Queanbeyan, too.
"Queanbeyan has the space and the vibrancy," Harriett Whyte said.
Ms Overall's Labor opponent is Queanbeyan-Palerang councillor Bryce Wilson. Mr Wilson said earlier that he wanted to give voters a chance to express their views on the Perrottet government and its handling of COVID.
"People are definitely concerned around the current state of the pandemic," he said earlier in the month.
The Nationals have held the seat since 2011, when Mr Barilaro won it in the Coalition's landslide election victory over Labor. The seat has existed since 1856 but with boundaries changed over the years. In recent decades, it has swung between Labor and conservative parties.
