Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Education is the great equaliser. It transforms lives and underpins the jobs, productivity and prosperity that will shape Australia's future. That's why I'm proud to share that construction is well and truly underway on the brand-new and much-needed public school and preschool in the Gables. This project will deliver a modern primary school for a thousand students and a fee-free preschool for local families. This is a vital investment in the future of our children in rapidly growing north-west Sydney. Alongside this, designs have been revealed for a new primary school, high school and preschool in Box Hill. Temporary schools have already been delivered in record time, ensuring local students have access to quality education while these permanent facilities are being built.

This is how Labor governments deliver—by listening to communities, recognising their needs and acting to provide real results. These projects are being delivered thanks to the Minns New South Wales Labor government, supported by a strong local Labor team, and they build on the Albanese government's record commitment to ensure every public school in New South Wales is on a path to full and fair funding. For far too long, families in the Gables and Box Hill have been left behind. Successive Liberal governments failed the communities across the hills, approving thousands of new homes without the proper planning for essential infrastructure. When families hand over their hard-earned savings, take out mortgages and move into a brand-new suburb, they do so with the legitimate expectation that the basics will be there—electricity and water, roads and transport, connectivity, and schools and hospitals. These are not luxuries; they're essentials. Yet thousands of families have moved into these areas with promises of new schools that simply never eventuated.

Since the last election, I've had the privilege of representing this area for the first time, and in this time I have spoken with parents right across the Gables and Box Hill who've told me of their frustration at having to drive long distances in peak hour just to get their children to class or the stress of trying to get their kids into nearby schools that are already bursting at the seams. I'm pleased to say that this is set to end. Together, our strong local Labor team is ensuring families in Greenway and right across north-west Sydney get the world-class education infrastructure they need and deserve, and I'll keep fighting to make sure this growing community is never taken for granted again, because when we invest in schools we're not just building classrooms; we're building futures.

Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.