15 years after a Medowie High School was first put to parliament, the NSW State Opposition have reconfirmed their 2015 election promise to build the school.
In 2015, NSW Labor went to the polls promising a new $40 million high school during its first term if elected.
NSW Labor Leader Luke Foley was in Medowie on Tuesday to announce the re-commitment and to also call on the government to deliver the project.
The 2016 census has revealed that Medowie is home to almost 10,000 people, with almost 3,000 residents being aged between 0 and 19 years old. The census also shows almost 500 high school students are travelling outside of Medowie to attend school.
The nearest government high school to Medowie is Irrawang High School which, in 2016 had a maintenance backlog of $1.53 million and received only $1.1 million in funding from the State Government in May.
Hunter River High School is the next closest government high school to Medowie which also had a maintenance backlog of $1.46 million before receiving only $1 million from the same government funding.
NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley said only Labor is prepared to invest in what our public schools need.
"Six years of neglect means we now have a school overcrowding crisis.
"When it comes to investing in our children's education, Labor will do so much more than the Liberals and Nationals," Mr Foley said.
The calls for a public high school in Medowie first began in 2002, when the then Member for Paterson Bob Baldwin acknowledged the community's need for a high school in the area.
Last week NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian was in the Hunter boasting record spending on education in the state which Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington says is laughable considering Medowie is being shunned once again.
"I have been involved in the local campaign for the past 11 years and other people have been involved in it longer than me.
"We have known that we have needed a high school there for so long now and yet the current government continues to ignore the need and the demand from the community.
"It is about our kid's education and their health and well-being. When they are spending over two hours on a bus every day to get to and from school, that takes a lot of time out of their day and out of their ability to connect with their friends and the community.
"From everything I am doing in Parliament; I keep calling for it, I keep being told that it is not needed, so I am now convinced that the only way that we will see a high school in Medowie, is if Labor is elected in 2019," Ms Washington said.
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| Luke Foley & Kate Washington in Medowie on Tuesday. Photo Source: Twitter @Luke_FoleyNSW |
