Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate Dr David Cooke of Port Macquarie for being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to both medicine and aviation. Dr Cooke, a GP, practised in a number of rural and regional areas in his career; however, in 1988 he left his long-established home and surgery in Gunnedah and moved to Port Macquarie, where he has practised ever since. Dr Cooke flies his own aircraft to remote areas, including South West Rocks, to provide much-needed general practitioner services and has been an air crew medical examiner for over 50 years.

Some of his achievements include being the co-founder, with his son, and occasional pilot of Avcair aviation services; the former vice-president and member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; a doctor with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory; and a member of the advisory board for aviation safety in the late nineties and 2000s. Dr Cooke continues to serve the broader community as a pilot who practices medicine for Port Macquarie and nearby South West Rocks and, after 62 years in aviation and 55 years in medicine, he has no intention of retiring. I would like to say congratulations and thank you to Dr David Cooke.