A political statement, not an education statement: MacDonald on Foley

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Opposition Leader Luke Foley visited Medowie yesterday committing to build the high school which was promised 15 years ago.

But the state government have been quick to say it's no longer needed in the area because since it was initially required both Irrawang and Hunter River High Schools are now both under capacity.

There was talk of building a high school for Medowie back in the early 2000's, but now in 2017 the need is no longer there according to the Department of Education. Both Irrawang and Hunter River High are at 1,539 students which is under capacity.

Luke Foley & Kate Washington in Medowie on
Tuesday.
Image: Twitter @Luke_FoleyNSW

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald says the figures aren't that different to back in 1996 so he just doesn't see the point.

"It's just disappointing that the Opposition Leader won't take the advice of the Department of Education which is very clear in this case that in the Medowie area we need to back the two schools that are there now - Irrawang and Hunter River High - and not build and not promise to build a high school that's not needed for many many years."

The Opposition Leader also called on the current government to step in and make a move towards building a school, but the government won't have any of that.

"What this is, is a political statement not an education statement. It would penalise the school communities and the students of Irrawang High and Hunter River High. There is capacity at those schools, it would mean weaker subject choice for those schools and they would be even further under capacity," said Scot MacDonald. 

Foley: Medowie High School will happen under Labor

BY JARROD MELMETH

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.

Luke Foley & Kate Washington in Medowie on Tuesday.
Photo Source: Twitter @Luke_FoleyNSW

Budget blowout on Newcastle's light rail

BY JESSICA ROUSE

State Opposition Leader Luke Foley dropped into Newcastle this morning calling on the state government to come clean about the real cost of the light rail project.

The true cost of Newcastle's Light Rail project was revealed in leaked cabinet documents released over the weekend which shows the project's budget has been blown out by around $35 million.

When she visited the Hunter last week to speak with local businesses, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the project was in fact on budget and on time and anything to the contrary was rubbish.

Opposition Leader Luke Foley and Federal
Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp

Luke Foley the documents prove the indisputable fact the project is neither on budget or on time.

"Stop telling porkies your own internal documents show its blown out by $35 million dollars already and you know she comes here, refuses to release any detail about costing but says trust me it's on budget. Well, I've released the information, I've released what they've kept hidden - $290 million dollars and rising for two and a bit kilometres of light rail."

Federal Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp sees it as a total disrespect for the people of Newcastle, particularly when the figures for the Sydney light rail project have been released.

"This premier (Gladys Berejiklian) was here last Tuesday and looked in the eyes of the Newcastle community and said this project was on budget. Well, clearly the evidence indicates that it is not. Now this government is not being transparent and it is not being clear and it needs to be clear on this particular issue."

Luke Foley says the government need to look to the future, just like Labor would if they were in power.

"We're not going to rip up the light rail track and close it down and indeed there needs to be a discussion about the future - there's not much point in delivering a light rail network for a big city that's just two kilometres long so we're interested in the discussion about where it might expand into the future and doing the proper planning work now."

Driverless Technology to the Hunter

BY DANIELLE RIES

Labor seek to make Newcastle the testing ground for new driverless technology in NSW.

Swansea MP Yasmin Catley gave parliament a notice that she would introduce a private members bill which would give the Transport Minister the power to identify trial sites for this technology.

A private members bill, which is modelled off a similar act passed in South Australia, will spend 10-million dollars over three years in hopes to attract the technology

This comes after the opposition Luke Foley used his budget reply speech last year to help campaign for the idea.

Yasmin Catley says we should take advantage of this opportunity.

"Those plans actually have the technology inbuilt into them that will enable autonomous vehicles to operate on the roads here in the Hunter.

"So we want to take advantage of the 90 billion dollar industry that is the autonomous vehicle industry which we will see in the next 10 to 20 years and we want NSW to be part of that and we want the Hunter to be at the heart of that".

She also states a trial will help the residents in the Hunter understand more about driverless cars.

"That is something a trial will do. It will give people a flavour of what autonomous vehicles will look like on our roads, how they will interact with the rest of our infrastructure in our city.

"So that is actually why it is so important to have a trial to give people the confidence around autonomous vehicles. There are challenges as well of course with these emerging technologies and we need to learn about those."

Swansea MP Yasmin Catley, Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp,
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes & Shadow Minister for Roads Jodi Mckay

Affordable housing back in the spotlight

BY JESSICA ROUSE

NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley announced over the weekend a future Labor government would mandate 25% of properties built on government-owned land be set aside for affordable housing, and it's a plan being welcomed by the St Vincent De Paul Society.

The society says the Hunter was well represented in a petition calling for more privately owned land to be made available for affordable housing. They had been calling for 15% of private development land be earmarked for affordable housing, which had the support of around 16,000 people.

"We actually promoted that we would like a commitment from state government for 15 per cent of housing developments to include affordable housing and for the opposition to announce that they are pursuing that promotion with 25 per cent, that's an excellent result," said Denise Lucus, the Society's Executive Officer for Maitland Newcastle.

Everyday in Newcastle the St Vincent De Paul Society helps thousands of people through a range of societal challenges including housing, support for people living with a mental illness, budget counselling and youth programs, migrant and refugee assistance and Denise Lucus says they frequently come across families on the "verge of losing rental properties because they just can't keep up with an unexpected bill arriving so we are often dealing with people on the verge of losing their tenancy".

However, on the flip side, Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald is pouring cold water on Labor's policy commitment.

He says in April the government offered land and $3 million towards affordable housing units on the former heavy rail corridor in Newcastle, yet council is refusing to rezone the land.

"And immediately we had a council playing politics with it, we had the local Labor member Tim Crakanthorp come out and rubbish the idea so look you know my issue is who is actually in charge of housing politics? Is it Luke Foley or is it the people on the ground such as Tim Crakanthorp and the council? So there seems to be no hope of that policy being delivered," said Scot MacDonald.

Scot MacDonald added what Labor say they do, and what they actually do are two completely different things.

As with all things, the St Vincent De Paul Society say it is encouraging the Opposition has come up with the 25%, but "of course we need to wait now and see what NSW government will announce in the budget".

Labor address school overcrowding, maintenance

BY GARY-JON LYSAGHT

Opposition Leader Luke Foley

NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley has joined Hunter MPs in calling on the Berejiklian government to adequately fund schools across the region.

During a visit to Maitland Grossman High School on Thursday, Mr Foley also addressed to growing concerns about school overcrowding in the region.

“Across the region, schools are overcrowded and playgrounds are full of demountable classrooms,” he said.

The Opposition leader also committed Labor to building new schools in Maitland and Medowie if it is elected in 2019.

He identified the issue isn’t isolated to just Maitland.

“This is a problem right across the Hunter, and I have to say, Ms Berejiklian in her six years senior minister and treasurer in the government before becoming premier last week has always had a very Sydney-centric focus,” he said.

“We’re in the middle of an unprecedented property boom and governments racking in stamp duty taxes, three-quarters of a million dollars last month alone, $10 billion a year in tax revenue.

“If we can’t build the new schools for our kids now, whenever can we?

“Let’s not squander the proceeds of a boom.”   

The school maintenance backlog drew particular focus by Mr Foley, who called on Gladys Berejiklian to visit the Hunter as soon as possible.

“A $105 million school maintenance backlog across the Hunter that’s an extraordinary figure,” he said.

“My message to the Premier: get up here quick smart.”

Shadow minister for the Hunter and Port Stephens MP Kate Washington said the increased backlog is for essential items.

“The maintenance backlog in the Hunter is not for luxury items in school, it’s for basic things like heaters and fans that don’t work,” she said.

“Hunter teachers and students need well-maintained facilities to create the best learning environments.”

Premier Berejiklian is a former minister for the Hunter and succeeded Mike Baird after his shock resignation.

Mr Baird was an advocate for the region, visiting Newcastle on a number of occasions, and campaigning for the light rail which is set to stretch along Hunter Street.

Labor Promises to Save our Koalas

BY TYLER FARDELL

Opposition Leader Luke Foley says the dwindling Koala population on the State's North coast would be protected in newly created national parks to help stop the very real prospect of the species becoming extinct in NSW.

Koala numbers in NSW represent just ten percent of the nation's Koalas, with that figure dropping lower each year.

Our beloved Koala is internationally recognisable and generates more than 2 billion dollars in tourism each year.

The opposition's plan would see Eucalyptus forests that are home to significant Koala populations, assessed for priority additions.

In addition to protecting the remaining Koala population, the proposed national parks would become major tourism hubs and attract thousands of tourists both national and international.

Luke Foley has called on the government to adopt this policy to save the national icon.

"We face the real prospect of Koalas becoming extinct in the wild in our state within the next couple of years".

"My challenge to Mr Baird is to adopt Labor's policy to save the Koalas."

Hunter councils still face uncertain future

BY JARROD MELMETH

Uncertainty about the proposed council mergers in the Hunter will continue to be drawn out with local council elections possibly being pushed back to 2020 if something isn't done soon.

The office of local government has written to the four hunter councils facing amalgamation, warning them that unless mergers are finalized by August next year, they could be waiting until 2020 for an election.

New councils not created before August 2017, would not be able to hold elections before September 2019 to prevent an overlap with the 2019 state election.

The state opposition is demanding the minister for local government move urgently to determine council mergers in the Hunter to avoid a four-year wait for the next election.

Leader of the Opposition Luke Foley says democracy delayed is democracy denied.

"In Orange, constituents have demonstrated how unpopular forced mergers are. The Government needs to listen - not delay local elections," he said.

Councils that are still subject to merger proposals are being told they need to have an election date set.

The electoral commission or the local government office have not confirmed whether these councils would have elections within their existing boundaries.

Shadow Minister for Local Councils Peter Primrose is accusing the Baird government of making this up as they go along.

"The gun is still being held at the head of local councils and their local communities.

"This is just an ongoing dog's breakfast of a process. People aren't being consulted and now they're being told they may not have elections until September 2020, that is just a crazy thing in terms of local democracy

"Mike Baird can be sure that the communities that have been denied democracy will send a message come 2019," Mr. Primrose said.

A spokesperson for the Minister for Local Government, Paul Toole says "the minister is considering all proposals following the receipt of all the Delegates reports and comments from the Boundaries Commission."

NSW Premier Mike Baird was not available for comment.

Shadow Minister for Local Government
Peter Primrose

NSW Leader of the Opposition
Luke Foley.