Member for Davidson, Jonathan O’Dea has launched another broadside over the NSW Government’s lack of infrastructure funding, including for local high schools.
Speaking in NSW Parliament, Mr O’Dea said:
“Words promising infrastructure delivery and expense control ring hollow after 15 years of broken promises and financial mismanagement. NSW Labor has a clear history of talk without action, of figures without follow-through, and of empty promises without delivering positive outcomes.”
“This is particularly evident in the Ku-ring-gai Council area,” Mr O’Dea said.
“While on one hand NSW Labor is pushing more than 10,000 new dwellings into the Ku-ring-gai Council area, little has been allocated to upgrade and improve the necessary infrastructure to support the increase in population.
“A prime example is the overall capital allocation for education and training which fell by 23.9% in this year’s NSW budget, reflecting the NSW Government’s inappropriate reliance on Federal funds instead of meeting its own educational obligations for our children, particularly in high school,” Mr O’Dea said.
“Killara High School which was built for 900 students is already bursting at the seams with 1500 students, yet the NSW Labor Government has made no allocation to upgrade the school. An increasing number of primary students enrolled at feeder schools clearly show that the situation will become worse before it gets better.
“To further exacerbate the situation, an increase in the school leaving age will place even more pressure on the school – yet the Labor Government fails to respond to the calls for upgrading and improved infrastructure,” Mr O’Dea said.
“This is despite the school community showing great initiative in positive alternatives to address the situation, including the allocation of nearby Crown Land for the schools’ expansion and new buildings on the existing site to replace an increasing number of demountables on the school oval. I have supported such initiatives.
“While we have seen substantial Federal government funds allocated (with much wasted) in building primary school infrastructure, little Federal or State money has been allocated to high schools such as Killara High,” Mr O’Dea concluded.
