Mr Tudehope described Gunnedah's business owners as "a small group of disgruntled small businesses" after Enchanted on Conadilly owner Jodi Dolbel and Gunnedah Chamber of Commerce representatives said they'd heard no new information at the breakfast event.

The comment was made during parliamentary Question Time and in the debate that followed.

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Mrs Dolbel said that, while it was made out that "Mr Tudehope's response was derogatory and disrespectful", it was good to know they had been heard, "even if they have been unable to offer any solutions now or in the future".

"I think that by speaking out as we did about how unhappy we were about the government's announcements of drought-relief packages, [it] has brought Gunnedah's small businesses to the forefront of discussions at parliament," Mrs Dolbel said.

"Everything discussed by the NSW Commissioner for Small Business Robyn Hobbs and NSW Minister for Finance and Small Business Damien Tudehope was simply existing policies which have been in existence for a long time.

"Regardless ... we can't allow ourselves to be wrapped up in the argument; we have to keep on task and keep moving forward so maybe next time we are faced with a devastating natural disaster, [the] government might be assisting us to survive it by allowing us to control our cash flow."

The NVI approached Gunnedah Chamber of Commerce president Stacey McAllan for a comment, but she said the chamber was holding a meeting tonight to discuss Mr Tudehope's comments before saying anything.

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