Member for New England Barnaby Joyce gave an impassioned and inflammatory speech at the Tamworth Business Chamber's state of the nation leaders forum on Thursday, November 23.

The former deputy PM used the event to take a swipe at what he called "Labor's missteps," from the recent fallout of a high court decision to force the release of 80 immigrants from indefinite detention, to renewable energy policies, and the unsuccessful Voice to Parliament referendum.

"In this electorate, in this town, more than 75 per cent of people voted no. It was a complete debacle," Mr Joyce said.

"[Labor is] training people to vote for another party. Now they've done it once, and as you know, once you've made love once, it's very hard to stop yourself from doing it a second time."

The lunch was the third and final of a series of events held by the local business chamber to promote networking among Tamworth's business elite.

The business chamber's headline speaker was Judo Bank's chief economist Warren Hogan, one of Australia's top economic analysts.

But it was Mr Joyce who stole the show with his usual brand of outspoken candour.

"By the way, they're not 'wind farms.' Farms grow carrots, peas, cattle. They're wind factories," he said.

The New England MP also railed against cuts to the Inland Rail project and the sunken Dungowan Dam while telling business leaders to invest in coal-fired power plants and nuclear energy.

"I know the Teachers' Federation tells you you've gotta save the planet because it'll instantaneously combust and they've got the kiddies coming home screaming at you, but you've got to be the adult in the room," Mr Joyce said.

For Tamworth specifically, he once again bemoaned the Labor government for pulling the plug on the new Dungowan Dam after the cost had blown out from $480 million to more than $1.3 billion.

"It's very hard to secure $1 billion. Once it's gone, it won't come back, not for another 10 years and only if you're lucky," Mr Joyce said.

Since the dam was canned, Tamworth's local government has gone all-in on the state's first regional advanced water recycling plant to solve the city's water security issues.

But the Member for New England said he doesn't think the plans for the new facility hold water.

"It's not tenable to rely on recycled water, just so you know. You can't recycle 100 per cent of water, you recycle about 60 to 70 per cent at best, the rest is brackish saline solution," Mr Joyce said.