Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian visited Orange on Friday to praise the region’s unemployment rate of 4.8 per cent, a figure she said was one of the lowest in the past 15 years.

She said Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed 7000 jobs were created since 2011 and the state government had awarded 2600 payroll tax rebates.

The rebates were offered in the wake of the Electrolux closure.

“I’m incredibly proud of how well this region is doing – at the moment, this region has one of the lowest unemployment rates, not just in NSW, but the nation,” she said.

Mr Barrett said business confidence was high.

“It’s really been driving me nuts hearing people talk down our region, saying we’re hemorrhaging jobs and there’s no prospects here – these figures have proven that is factually incorrect,” he said.

“We want to be here and we want to attract more people here and a threat to that is people telling others there’s no future here.”

The pair fronted the media after meeting with the Orange Business Chamber and Brand Orange earlier in the day.

Ms Berejiklian said the main concern expressed was about transport, roads and freight routes and the time taken to get produce to port.

Centroc in its briefing to Orange City Council said Orange’s main challenge was not having a direct freight route, unlike Dubbo, which benefited from the Golden Highway.

“A lot of the businesses, especially those in agriculture, are growing industries and they want to make and produce more product and get it to market more quickly,” she said.

“If we support those businesses to grow, this area can look forward to future growth.”

She said the state government had developed a freight strategy, which identified the need for investing in local roads through to decongesting the Sydney end, but declined to nominate a timeframe for delivery, saying the work was ongoing.

With Parkes experiencing a jobless rate of 8.3 per cent, Ms Berejiklian said pockets of challenge remained but Parkes had benefited recently from hospital and roads funding.