Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The state of many public schools in New South Wales is a concern, and there is concern that it has been politicised by the current government.

The federal Minister for Education Jason Clare, here in this place, has acknowledged that Australia's funding and education gaps needs to be fixed, and frequently raises the importance of public education, which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Under the current New South Wales government, the public schools in the state are underfunded by $1.9 billion. Many public school facilities are past their prime, including in Warringah. Balgowlah Boys Campus—or Bally Boys, as we know it—is an amazing schools. One of five campuses of the Northern Beaches Secondary College, Bally Boys is the highest ranked non-selective public school in New South Wales. I want to congratulate these young men for their work.

The boys' impressive performance is despite the quality of infrastructure they learn in, which remains a significant community concern. There are demountable classrooms on playgrounds catering to growth in student demand, asbestos in buildings, limited toilets, sporting halls and music rooms that are from an entirely other era, and limited access to outdoor space.

The request to the New South Wales Premier and education minister to address this have been ignored. Further, we now have a review by the New South Wales Department of Education, which is consulting on whether a significant change should be made to the number of campuses at Northern Beaches Secondary College, including changing from year 11 and 12 at Freshwater Campus to it going from year 7; and Bally Boys and Mackellar Girls going to co-ed.

These are high-performing school that really address the needs of our community and our young people and their education, so I encourage everyone in the community to have their say on this consultation paper and I urge the New South Wales government to be mindful of our schools.