Dr MARJORIE O'NEILL (Coogee) (17:16:22): I bring the attention of this House to the dire need for greater investment in public education in the Eastern Suburbs and the urgency for action from this Government. There are seven fantastic public primary schools in the Coogee electorate and, according to data from the Department of Education, six of those seven schools are at or over capacity. In previous years the growth in public school enrolments has reflected the fantastic work being done by our local school principals and their wonderful staff to provide a first-class education and schooling environment in our local public schools. In speaking with our local school principals it is clear that they are facing a major increase in enrolment applications for the 2021 school year as local families begin to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Australia's first recession in almost 30 years.
We know the worst of the economic impacts of COVID-19 are yet to come, and it is a certainty that more local parents will be turning to public education for the 2021 school year and beyond. Firstly, this will put a huge strain on the already stretched facilities and staff at our fantastic local public schools. Secondly, this guaranteed increase in public school enrolments will place a spotlight on the significant gaps in secondary public school education in the Eastern Suburbs. There is no co-educational public high school in the Coogee electorate. The closest co-educational public high school is Rose Bay Secondary College in the Vaucluse electorate which, according to recent data, is already at 103 per cent of capacity. In conversations with local parents, these numbers may be an underestimate of the squeeze for classroom space at Rose Bay Secondary College, with several parents at the school indicating that the school could be up to 110 per cent capacity for the new school year.
Rose Bay Secondary College is unable to take any students from out of area. Many of my constituents in the Coogee electorate have written to me to discuss their anguish. Their children are not able to be enrolled at Rose Bay Secondary College and they have no co-educational public high school option within reach. The closest co-educational high schools in the Coogee electorate to the south are at Matraville and Mascot, and to the west are at Redfern and Alexandria. The next closest option is the Inner Sydney High School, which is already at enrolment capacity and will be unable to take out of area enrolments. There is no existing dedicated public school bus services to connect local suburbs with the senior campuses of Alexandria Park Community School, Matraville Sports High or JJ Cahill Memorial High School.
In June I asked the transport Minister how students from my electorate, especially those in the suburbs further north, would access these out-of-area high schools without school bus services. I was also interested in how much time the Minister expected students to commute in order to get to and from school. I encourage all members to read the transport Minister's answer. He helpfully directed me to the trip planner page on the Transport for NSW website. Potentially the Minister was trying to avoid publishing the commute times requested in the question and answer paper. I took his advice. I will happily inform the House of the commute times as produced by the trip planner. For students from the Coogee electorate to travel to their closest co- educational public schools that are taking out-of-area enrolments at 7.30 a.m.—for example Matraville Sports High School—students will spend the following times commuting one way: 57 minutes from Bondi Junction, 58 minutes from Clovelly, one hour and three minutes from Bronte, and one hour 17 minutes from Tamarama.
To get to JJ Cahill Memorial High School and Alexandria Park Community School the travel times are roughly the same. Using this data, the Government would be asking local students to travel on average one hour and two minutes and to make three changes of transport every week day in order to get to school. The Government is clearly failing families and students in the Eastern Suburbs by not providing adequate access to public education. It is a fairly straightforward problem to solve. Firstly, invest in a co-educational public high school in the Eastern Suburbs. As the local population and the demand for public school enrolments both continue to increase, there is no question that a new co-educational high school will be needed.
Secondly, fast track the upgrades to Randwick Girls' and Rand Boys' high schools. These great local schools have fantastic students, brilliant staff and a rich history but are being let down by their facilities. Now is the time to follow through on the promise of major upgrades to both schools. Thirdly, introduce special school bus services to help students commute to co-educational high schools in 30 minutes or less. Our public schools need champions in this place. The right to universal public education is one of the most important issues we should be discussing in this place. I call on this Government to take action, to invest in public education in the Eastern Suburbs and across all of New South Wales.
