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Lower Macleay District High School

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Speakers - Stoner Mr Andrew
Business - Private Members Statements


    LOWER MACLEAY DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL

Page: 16333

    Mr STONER (Oxley) [5.45 p.m.]: I draw to the attention of the House the urgent need for a high school in the lower Macleay district. South West Rocks and the lower Macleay areas have experienced incredible increases in population in recent years. Figures provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] indicate that an increase of 80 per cent occurred between 1986 and 1996 in South West Rocks and that, in 1986, 10 per cent of the Kempsey shire's population lived in the lower Macleay district whereas in 1996 the rate was 25 per cent. The total population living in South West Rocks and within 15 kilometres of the surrounding area is currently estimated to be 8,000.

    Both the private and public sectors have recognised the increase in population. In the past 18 months, a new resort, a shopping centre, an ambulance station, enhancements to the country club and a soon-to-be operating community health centre have been established in the area. The only agency that is steadfastly ignoring the spectacular increase in population is the Department of Education and Training. Currently there are only primary schools in the lower Macleay district, including those at South West Rocks, Stuart's Point, Smithtown, Gladstone, Kinchela and Bellimbopinni, with a total enrolment of 637 students. High school-age children are forced to travel by bus for up to one hour to Kempsey via a narrow and potholed road, which is certainly an undesirable situation from a road safety perspective.

    Since the early 1990s the South West Rocks community has sought some action by the Government to plan for a high school in the district. The community recognises that there is a 10-year planning horizon for the commissioning of a new high school. The community received some cause for hope when the Minister for Education and Training visited South West Rocks on 6 July 1996 and said, "It was not a matter of if, but when, a high school would be built at South West Rocks" and "We've set a block of Crown land aside to build a high school." However, since that time the Lower Macleay High School Establishment Association has met with nothing but brick walls from the Department of Education and Training. In classic bureaucrat-speak, the department and the Minister—in letters prepared for him by his department—keep talking about "carefully monitoring the situation", while selectively and inaccurately quoting statistics. For example, they refer to statistics related just to South West Rocks that do not include the catchment area around South West Rocks or the lower Macleay.

    The time for careful monitoring is over and was over long ago. With a 10-year time frame involved in the commissioning of a new high school, it will be at least 2011 before the students of South West Rocks and the lower Macleay area receive their new school. By that time it is estimated that the population of the lower Macleay area will be more than 10,000. According to ABS statistics, in the 10 years from 1986 to 1996, the number of high school-age children in the lower Macleay area increased from 183 to 421, an increase of 65 per cent. Assuming the same rate of growth, there will be 695 high school-age students in the year 2006. It is a likely that the rate of growth would be higher than that because of the construction of the new gaol at Kempsey, which is expected to have a significant impact on the local economy. South West Rocks and the lower Macleay are the preferred places of residence for many people who work in Kempsey.

    Many students from the lower Macleay currently attend Melville High School at Kempsey and that has resulted in serious overcrowding. The department's own figures clearly indicate that planning for a new high school at South West Rocks must start now. A departmental letter states that a threshold of 600 primary school students are required to support the establishment of a secondary department as a component of a K-12 central school. As at 2001, lower Macleay primary students attending the schools I have mentioned total 637. That departmental letter also states that a total population of 7,500 is a threshold. Currently the lower Macleay population is 8,000 and is estimated to rise to 9,000 in 2006 and to more than 10,000 in 2011.

    I congratulate the Lower Macleay High School Establishment Association, including its President, Doug Matthews; Secretary, Anne Van Helden; Publicity Officer, Sue Whitby; Bruce Jeffery, Jenny Johnson, Michelle Ellison, Mike Clewes and all members for their hard work and persistence in the interests of the children of the lower Macleay district. I call upon the Minister to make good on promises he made five years ago to the people of the lower Macleay and to give a commitment now to the establishment of a high school at South West Rocks. [Time expired.]


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