06/08/2026

Federal Member for Cowper Pat Conaghan today joined Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Anne Ruston alongside passionate local providers and staff working in the Aged Care industry for a Round Table Forum at the Shoreline in Coffs Harbour.

The session was designed to give Mid North Coast providers the chance to engage directly with the Shadow Ministerial team and illustrate the ever-increasing pressures being placed on this critical industry.

Forum topics included financial stability, reform impacts, workforce shortages, clinical challenges and the increases in regulatory burdens that are affecting providers’ ability to supply the care and dignity that older Australians deserve.

Mr. Conaghan welcomed Senator Ruston to the electorate and thanked her for listening to the experiences and ideas of our local experts.

“By all accounts, we have an Aged Care system that is going backwards. From the feedback that is flooding my office, a consistent message has rung loud and clear; It is harder today for our older residents to access decent standards of care and harder for our local providers to supply that care than it was four years ago. As the Opposition it is our responsibility not only to hold Labor to account on behalf of our constituents, but also to form the counter-policy that will fix these issues. I am grateful that we have Senator Ruston here today to hear from local industry experts directly and take their feedback to Canberra to do just that,” Mr Conaghan stated.

“We are not here today to pretend that the Coalition got everything right when it comes to Aged Care while we were in government. We didn’t. But it must be acknowledged that things have been getting worse, not better. We are here to find the solutions that will enact positive change for our communities and all older Australians,” Mr Conaghan stated.

Senator Ruston agreed that Aged Care standards have eroded in recent years, particularly since the implementation of the November suite of reforms.

“As Inspector General of Aged Care Natalie Siegel Brown stated last month; The way aged care reform is being implemented is causing harm. That is now an undisputed fact. Since the most recent changes were implemented in November, we have seen the industry in free fall. Older Australians were promised dignity and independence, but Labor has delivered waiting lists, rationed care and a computer algorithm which determines their care needs,” Senator Ruston said.

“It is critical that we hear the issues and ideas of those at the coal face to effectively correct the disastrous trajectory that Aged Care has taken. I’d like to thank Mr. Conaghan for the invitation and a special thank you to every forum participant here today and to those who were unable to attend but have sent through their feedback and ideas. The electorate of Cowper is consistently ranked among the highest in the country for number of the residents accessing aged care supports.

“Good policy is not created in the Canberra bubble. Good policy is created at tables like this one here today. The Coalition is already taking action, having introduced and passed the Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026 through the Senate with crossbench support, legislation which Labor continues to stall on in the House. Forums like today’s in Coffs Harbour are exactly the kind of grassroots input that will keep shaping the Coalition’s push for further reform.”

ENDS