A rally to save health services across regional New South Wales was held on Saturday at Jubilee Park, Cootamundra, where nearly 500 people gathered to show their support.
Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke, said the turnout exceeded expectations, with strong community backing for a petition to retain vital services.
“We’re in the fight of our lives to keep essential services, including pathology at the Cootamundra Hospital and Intensive Care Paramedic ambulance services across the electorate,” Ms Cooke said.
“Emergencies like accidents, heart attacks, or childbirth require immediate care. Local health services ensure rapid responses that can save lives.”
Ms Cooke explained that the NSW Parliament does not accept a combination of paper-based and electronic petitions and therefore 10,000 signatures are required for the paper-based petition currently circulating in several small communities.
“We’ve already gathered nearly 500 signatures and over the coming weeks and months, we’ll visit every community in the Cootamundra electorate to highlight just how critical these services are. We’ll be encouraging everyone to sign our petition so our collective voice is heard loud and clear in Macquarie Street.” Ms Cooke said.
“It’s unacceptable for anyone to miss out on health care because of where they live. Retaining local services ensures timely, quality care without the added stress of travel,” she said.
If you’d like to help, email cootamundra@parliament.nsw.gov.au or visit our Young or Junee offices to sign the petition.
