Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my electorate of Cowper, regional health has remained one of the top three issues since 2019. With the ever-present need for more GPs, paediatricians and specialists, the level of access to care in the regions is not improving. In fact, in many areas, it's actively getting worse. We need to listen to our professionals on the ground, those working in our medical centres, in hospitals and in aged care, and to those who are educating the young people that our community desperately needs.

Last week, I invited Dr Anne Webster, as the shadow assistant minister for regional health, to the electorate for roundtable forums across Port Macquarie, Kempsey, Nambucca Heads and Coffs Harbour. In every single township, workforce shortages were named as the top priority, with a need for affordable housing, adequate childcare placements and better regulation around the NDIS all listed as major contributing factors to the problem.

I would like to thank everyone who attended and provided their lived example, their perspective and their experience. We will take this to our party room and push for policy changes that we know will have the greatest impact on our regional people.