Cowper candidates talk regional healthcare WHILE an official date is yet to be confirmed, Australians will be heading to the polls for a Federal election before 17 May 2025.

For the community to learn more about the candidates on offer, News Of The Area is offering our potential Federal representatives the opportunity to share policies on various issues impacting our region.

This week we will focus on regional healthcare.

No policy statement was received by Family First candidate Peter Jackel ahead of publication.

Pat Conaghan – National Party

Mr Conaghan outlined his plan for Cowper’s care industries as below:

● Reduce unnecessary waste in the health bureaucracy, redirecting it to frontline health services.

● Support regional health worker attraction, recruitment and retention initiatives

● Address the inconsistencies with pay and conditions of NDIS compared to other care fields

● Grow our GP workforce to address increasing shortages through new incentive payments, entitlements and training support – this includes reverting the recent changes to the Distribution Priority Areas (DPA) system that redefined peri-urban areas as ‘regional’, diverting skilled migrant doctors away from areas like Cowper.

● Focus on training and education of our homegrown talent by supporting our local universities.

● Guarantee the growing funding of Medicare, including restoring mental health support from 10 sessions back to 20.

● Support Australians to receive healthcare in a timely way wherever they live – such as increases to telehealth.

“While each (care industry providers, employees and clients) has their own unique challenges, there are absolutely common themes throughout that I believe can be looked at simultaneously so as not to have a knock-on effect from one industry to another, like we have seen with NDIS diverting resourcing away from other care industries.

“We need to be providing the right pathways and incentives for our critical workforce, which simply isn’t happening at the moment and has been a slow-moving train wreck for some time.”

Caz Heise – Independent

“As a nurse, hospital manager, and regional healthcare leader, I’ve spent my life improving health services in our community,” Ms Heise said.

“I’ve seen firsthand the challenges people face in accessing care, and am deeply committed to improving our healthcare system.”

Ms Heise lists her regional health priorities as follows:

● Improving GP access by increasing Medicare rebates, strengthening regional training pathways, and offering incentives like HECS/HELP relief for doctors who work in the regions.

● Fixing aged care by addressing workforce shortages, improving pay and conditions, and ensuring providers are held accountable for high-quality care.

● NDIS reform to cut wait times, remove bureaucratic barriers, and crack down on providers exploiting the system.

● Expanding mental health services by increasing funding for local organisations, ensuring regional communities get their fair share of mental health funding, and supporting the development of more specialised services.

Ms Heise also stresses the need for a “bigger conversation” on preventative health, workforce shortages, and long-term investment in healthcare.

“We can’t keep relying on stop-gap measures,” she said.

“We need a system that keeps people well, not just treats them when they’re sick.

“That means real investment in prevention, ensuring our healthcare workforce is trained and retained locally, and making sure regional communities don’t miss out.”

Greg Vigors – Labor

Mr Vigor’s regional healthcare priorities include:·

● Addressing the critical GP shortage in our area.

“Labor has brought in a suite of measures to encourage more GPs to enter the health system in regions,” Mr Vigors said.

“The cornerstone of this has been increasing the Medicare rebate to GPs.”

● Increasing bulk billing.

“Bulk billing rates have increased to 79.1 percent under Labor.

“We are working with doctors to ensure no Australian misses a medical appointment because they can’t afford to see their family doctor.”

● Cowper’s aging population.

“Our region has a very high percentage of older residents.

“Labor has continued to increase health and hospital funding to support our aging population.

“Labor has also made medicines cheaper for all people in Cowper with 60-day prescriptions and caps on the costs of medicines.”

● Wait times in emergency departments and ambulance ramping.

“Labor has created Urgent Care Clinics in regions across Australia including Coffs Harbour and Lismore.”

● The acute shortage of mental health workers and services.

“Labor extended the Head to Health mental health program, including opening a Medicare Mental Health service in Coffs Harbour.”

● Women’s health.

“We know women’s health has been largely ignored previously.

“Labor has committed over half a billion dollars to addressing women’s health needs, giving greater access to health services for women in our region.”

Chris Walsh – One Nation

Mr Walsh believes regional towns “always play second fiddle in healthcare to the cities”.

“There are definite shortages in doctors, nurses, critical health care professionals, and specialist health care doctors in the area.

“Cowper is one of the fastest growing areas in the state and as such more focus needs to be put on encouraging Australians into the profession.

“One Nation’s policy is to offer three-year contracts for newly qualified medical professionals and will pay their HECS-HELP loans in full.”

Mr Walsh lists key regional healthcare issues as follows:

● Our hospitals are short-staffed.

● Wait times to have medical needs addressed are too long.

● Seeing a doctor is difficult – either their books are closed, or it can take weeks to get an appointment.

“Most political candidates will say the area needs more and better funding, and whilst that is true, I believe there is an immediately available solution within our communities,” Mr Walsh said.

“A large portion of our diseases today would be considered a result of unhealthy lifestyle choices.

“With a range of alternate health care professionals available in our area, one realistic solution is to include lifestyle professionals to the Medicare system.

“This would relieve some of the pressure on mainstream medicine and assist those seeking natural healing to do so at a reduced rate… professionals such as naturopaths, dieticians, exercise specialists, counsellors, life coaches and Christian services.”