Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Minister for Water David Littleproud and member for New England Barnaby Joyce lobbed into Inverell late Wednesday afternoon in what was heralded as a fact-finding visit.
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The Treasurer was expected to make an announcement in Nullamanna on Thursday morning, October 3.
The carefully orchestrated visit saw the trio discuss Inverell's problems with a few local business people, including Inverell Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Nicky Lavender and real estate agent John Devlin.
"I think it's a fantastic opportunity for us to tell Inverell's story to these politicians direct," Ms Lavender said.
"And I think it's a great opportunity to look at a solutions-based, not just highlighting what the issues are, but looking at what we can do constructively.
"The retail space is definitely struggling. It's tough. Overall, businesses are struggling."
She said the chamber had seen some businesses take some initiatives.
"Reducing some hours for staff and tying to hold onto them as long as they can," Ms Lavender said.
"We have seen some job losses over the last few months. It has been tough for the last 18 months, but I think the last few months it is starting to hit home, with the drought not breaking, and we are seeing some small businesses and some of the national chains pull out of Inverell."
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John Devlin said the last nine months had not been what they were for the prior year.
"Our business is down roughly 17 per cent, but nearly 20 per cent in revenue, so it has been tough," he said.
"We need some confidence out there. We need something from out of the sky.
"Who knows when that is going to happen, but we're the same as any other business, we've cut costs as much as we can while trying to maintain our staffing."
Mr Frydenberg said the Government was providing support and would continue to do more as required.
"These communities are so critical to the health of the Australian economy, and to the health of the nation because whether you live in the big city or whether you live in the regional areas, you want these communities to thrive," he said.
"Everyone has a vested interest in Australia continuing with its strong agricultural production and with these regional areas being able to get through what is a very difficult time."
Mr Littleproud said more than $7 billion had been committed to this drought to date.
