PREMIER Chris Minns visited Port Stephens on Friday, 26 September to celebrate the commencement of construction of Medowie’s long-awaited public high school.
Joining the Premier at Medowie was Acting Education Minister Courtney Houssos, Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington, Port Stephens Mayor Leah Anderson, Central Ward councillor Jason Wells and students from Wirreanda and Medowie public schools.
Kate Washington MP said the journey to the sod turning had been a long one.
“My youngest was in my arms when I first started fighting for the school,” she said.
“She’s now 19.
“Days don’t come much more special than this.
“I’m so grateful to everyone in our community for never giving up.”
Ms Washington said local residents had been calling for a public high school for decades.
“We had promises made, delays and denials from the Liberal National Government before, and it has taken the Minns Labor Government to deliver what families in Medowie have been wanting for years and years,” she said.
Following the announcement, the NSW Opposition called out the Government for “deliberately ignoring the record investment delivered by the former Liberal and Nationals Government in schools across the Hunter region”.
A statement Shadow Education Minister Sarah Mitchell accused the Premier and MPs of spruiking “a series of projects that were funded by the Coalition before the 2023 state election”.
“It’s interesting to see the Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington happily open new classrooms and facilities at schools in her electorate like Irrawang and Hunter River High that were funded by the previous government one day, but then claim the Liberals and Nationals failed to deliver for local schools the next,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Right across the Hunter region the Coalition invested significantly in school infrastructure delivering new classrooms, upgraded facilities and major capital works that local families and students are now benefiting from – including projects in Muswellbrook, Rutherford and Newcastle.
“Labor might want to rewrite history, but the truth is that every one of these projects was made possible by the strong infrastructure pipeline and record funding that the Liberals and Nationals put in place.”
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