Almost 300 business owners, graziers, retired drovers and Bourke townspeople yesterday rallied against the sale of high profile grazing and cotton property Toorale.
The possible new Bourke mayor, Andrew Lewis, said he would personally lose an estimated $115,000 a year once the State Government takes control of the block.
The 91,0000ha property was sold to the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) for 23.75 million and most of it is set to be turned into a National Park.
"If you add Toorale to all the other National Parks in the Bourke Shire it equates to an area 260km long and 10km wide," said Mr Lewis, who is expected to be voted in as a councillor after Saturday's local government election and may even even have a tilt at the town's top job.
The truck operator earns $70,000 carting wheat for Toorale in an average year and $45,000 supplying gypsum for soil conditioning.
Bourke's cause has been taken up in Canberra by Nationals MP John Cobb, who has accused the Rudd Government of "ripping the guts out of its economic base".
"Sitting in Parliament listening to the Prime Minister and Peter Garrett boasting about how they had destroyed the Bourke community at the same time as approving the theft of up to 110 billion litres of water out of the Murray Darling Basin I realised that for them this is nothing more than a political game and it is no longer about the people," Mr Cobb said.
"Bourke businesses estimate the economy of the Bourke Shire will contract by more than 10pc, plunging the already drought stricken community into a severe economic depression."
Mr Cobb said as a direct result of the purchase of Toorale Station the Bourke Shire has lost 4pc of its rate revenue, 7-10pc of the districts sheep and cattle, 15pc of its water entitlements and most worrying of all over 100 people employed either full time or as casuals will shortly be out of work.
"In a community which has seen its population shrink by 700 people since the drought began to bite eight years ago these job losses will have a devastating affect on the back country of NSW," he said.
"The purchase of Toorale Station was done with no due diligence, no environmental plan in place and more importantly there has been no economic impact studies into this decision to spend $23.75 million of taxpayers money.
"The Rudd Government purchased Toorale Station after one individual from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services made a one hour visit to Toorale Station to inspect its bio-diversity values.
"Not one bureaucrat from the Minister for Climate Change and Water department inspected Toorale Station prior to spending $23.75 million – this is extraordinary."
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