At 84, most people have long since hung up their work boots. Dr David Cooke OAM is still seeing patients almost full-time, and still flying himself to work.
The Port Macquarie doctor and pilot has spent more than 60 years caring for Australians in some of the country’s most remote corners. Now he has been named the 2027 NSW Senior Australian of the Year.
And he was not the only Mid North Coast local celebrated on the night. Four of the five NSW award recipients call the region home.
Dr Cooke was recognised for his ongoing commitment to patients across the Mid North Coast and his extraordinary contribution to regional and rural medicine, including years with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
He has no plans to hang up his stethoscope or give up flying. He still works as a GP in Port Macquarie and South West Rocks to help ease the shortage of doctors in regional communities.
Speaking to North Coast Times after the announcement, Dr Cooke said the recognition had come as a surprise.
“It’s a bit overwhelming, and a bit surprising,” he said.
It all started with a phone call from the NSW Premier’s Department in July. Dr Cooke suspected it was a scam. Several weeks later, he was told he was one of four finalists for the senior award.
NSW Governor Margaret Beazley AC KC and Premier Chris Minns announced the winners at a ceremony at The Calyx in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden on Wednesday, 4 November, following a reception for all nominees at Government House.
For Dr Cooke, the honour recognises a career built around his two lifelong passions, medicine and aviation.
He comes from a family of pilots spanning four generations. In the late 1960s, he left Sydney to join the Royal Flying Doctor Service, covering isolated communities in the Northern Territory and north Queensland.
There was little medical technology to lean on. He relied on clinical judgement and practical skills to treat patients in some of Australia’s toughest conditions. A self-described “pilot who practises medicine”, he even trained in parachute jumping to reach patients in places he could not otherwise get to.
“I didn’t have X-rays, I didn’t have cardiographs or blood tests. It was all by eyeball, as it were,” he said.
He stitched wounds, set fractures, delivered babies, and travelled for days at a time to reach people in remote communities and on isolated properties.
Dr Cooke described the experience as an enormous privilege, knowing his presence helped people keep living in isolated parts of the country.
After his flying doctor years, he worked as a rural GP, including in Gunnedah, before settling in Port Macquarie in 1988.
Today, he sees patients four days a week in Port Macquarie and flies himself to South West Rocks. His fifth day, when no patients are booked, goes on reports, X-rays, and other medical matters.
So why keep going at 84?
“People say, why are you still doing it? And I say, of course, I love it,” he said.
“It’s a privilege.”
Flying still has a firm grip on him too. Every Saturday at 8am, Dr Cooke takes to the sky with the Bobcats, a local group of pilots, for formation flights over Port Macquarie.
Three more Mid North Coast locals joined him on the honour roll.
Nambucca Heads’ Jill Ashley, 66, and Macksville’s Paul (Fatty) Ireland, 57, were jointly named NSW Local Hero for founding ShoreTrack, a community organisation that supports young people in the Nambucca Valley who face barriers to education and employment.
Since it was founded in 2020, ShoreTrack has helped more than 750 young people through practical learning, mentoring, and trade-based training. Among those who have completed its Certificate II pathways, 86 per cent remain employed.
Ms Ashley and Mr Ireland’s work has opened doors for young people who might otherwise struggle to find a way into work. ShoreTrack offers not only mentoring but also transport, meals, and connections with local employers.
Bonny Hills’ Danny Schouten, 30, was named NSW Young Australian of the Year. He created Community Shark Bite Kits, bleeding-control stations now installed at more than 330 beaches across Australia.
The idea came after a friend survived a shark attack only because a bystander quickly made a tourniquet from a dog lead. Mr Schouten’s kits hold tourniquets, compression bandages, dressings, thermal blankets, and clear instructions for treating severe bleeding.
With most NSW beaches unpatrolled, the kits have already proven their worth, including at a shark attack at Sydney’s Coogee Beach in June. Mr Schouten spends his weekends putting them together, and his goal is a kit at every beach in Australia.
The 2027 NSW Australian of the Year is 38-year-old Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a marine scientist and communicator who works to protect the ocean and engage Australians in conservation.
The five NSW recipients will now represent the state at the national Australian of the Year Awards in Canberra on Monday, 25 January 2027.
“Each of you has made our communities stronger,” said NSW Premier Chris Minns.
More information on the awards is available at https://australianoftheyear.org.au/
A member of the Rural Doctors Network, Dr Cooke hopes his award will help shine a light on the need for more doctors in regional and rural Australia.
He believes attracting more GPs and specialists to rural areas should be a priority, particularly with patients in country communities facing long waits for specialist appointments.
He has taught final-year medical students and encourages more young doctors to consider general practice.
For Dr Cooke, one of the greatest strengths of being a GP is the relationships built with patients and their families over time, which allow for more informed and personal care.
“The ability to practise medicine, good medicine, is directly proportional to the depth with which you know people,” he said.
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