Independent candidate for Cowper, Caz Heise, has today criticised local MP Pat Conaghan for his support for plans to slash thousands of public service jobs, warning it will have immediate and harmful impacts across the community.

“The proposal by Peter Dutton and supported by the Nationals will impact aged care and disability services, and our ability to respond to emergencies or provide pensioners, veterans and their families with life saving support. 

These are the staff who support our community after fires and floods and ensure the aged care and NDIS system is delivered with proper oversight. 

“When Pat Conaghan says he supports cutting these roles, he is voting to pull the rug out from under the very people he’s meant to represent. 

“Dutton’s recent comments that the cuts will be achieved via a 5-year hiring freeze will in many ways be worse for our region. It means that critical, skilled and experienced staff that do vital work for our region will not be replaced.”

A hiring freeze over the next five years would also lead to an estimated 243 less APS jobs in the Mid North Coast and Coffs Harbour-Grafton SA4s by 2031* 

Caz warned that the plan would also lead to an increase in expensive, outsourced consultancy contracts, replacing public servants with private contractors who are not accountable to the public.

“We’ve seen it all before. Peter Dutton makes a big show of cutting the public service, only to pay consultants more to do a worse job,” she said.

“A recent review found the previous Coalition government spent more than $20 billion in a single year on consultants and contractors, undermining the capability of the public service and delivering poorer value for taxpayers. (The Guardian, Feb 2023)

“It’s inefficient, it’s expensive, and it weakens services that should be properly delivered by people accountable to the public.”

Caz pointed to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs as a key example of the damage caused by public sector cuts.

“Years of underfunding left veterans without timely access to support. Only recent investment in rebuilding DVA staffing levels has begun to reverse the backlog and improve services. 

“Any cuts to staffing of the Department of Veteran Affairs will result in increased processing times for Veteran Claims, thereby increasing their stress levels, particularly for those suffering mental health issues. This flies in the face of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicides and indicates a lack of understanding of the needs of Veterans.”

Todd Vercoe, a local veteran from Bowraville, said: “Cuts to public services would severely limit our ability to access the support we need. We fought for this country. We shouldn’t have to fight for basic assistance when we come home.”

Caz also notes the impact on the local economy.

“These cuts won’t just hurt those who rely on services, they’ll also hit local jobs and businesses hard.”

“Services Australia and other federal agencies are major employers across the Mid North Coast. The wages are spent in local shops, cafes, and small businesses every day.”

“When these jobs are lost, it’s not just the staff who suffer. It’s local business that loses customers and our regional economy that takes a hit.”

Statistics on the number of people in Cowper who access government support 

• 29,230 age pension recipients (third highest number of age pensioners in Australia) 

• 9,350 Disability Support Pension recipients

• 6,729 NDIS recipients, making Cowper the fourth highest rate of NDIS participants in NSW and 11th in Australia 

• 7,955 JobSeeker recipients

• 3,102 veterans and their families access support and services via the Department of Veterans Affairs supports 

• Daily visits to Services Australia centres:

  • Coffs Harbour: 192

  • Port Macquarie: 150

  • Kempsey: 93

  • Nambucca Heads: 68

• 546 people work in public service roles in the Mid North Coast SA4 region **

**Reference: Natural attrition over a 5-year period from 2026-31, calculated by applying the APS separation rate for the 2024 Calendar year (6.4%) to the 2025-26 Average Staffing Level allocated to each SA4 based on the geographic distribution of headcount from the APS Employment Data Release for 31 December 2024.