Hundreds more listened in without participating, New England MP Barnaby Joyce said.

Their biggest concerns were coronavirus, telecommunications or Australia's new nuclear submarines, he said.

But it was COVID-19 and its economic effects that was the biggest theme, he said.

READ MORE:

"The only solution to this in the long run is to get the economy working again," he said.

"We get the economy working again by opening up again and we open up again by getting inoculated twice.

"We hope that around about the end of October that we're going to have more vaccine doses, vastly more than people who want to get vaccinated. And then we're in a position to say, okay from now on the risk is yours because we're opening the economy up and we're moving on."

Residents of Inverell, Glen Innes and Tenterfield were eligible to have their say at the town hall.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: