The NSW Government says there is no need for a new public high school at Medowie, but Parliamentary records show that the party sang to a different tune when in opposition.
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According to Hansard records, there have been at least two occasions in the past decade when Liberal MPs have advocated for a new high school to be built at Medowie – and criticised the then Labor state government for perceived inaction on the issue.
Robyn Parker, who was serving in the NSW upper house at the time but would later become the Member for Maitland, advocated for the school a decade ago.
“Will the Minister explain to the families in Medowie and Tilligerry Peninsula why they are waiting for a high school to be built at Medowie and their children are travelling considerable distances each day to the nearest high school when there has been [land] vacant and available to start construction of this school next to the existing public school in Medowie?” Mrs Parker asked in Parliament on June 5, 2007.
Then, in 2010, Port Stephens MP Craig Baumann said the need for a new high school at Medowie was “one of the most important issues in my electorate”.
Mr Baumann told Parliament on June 1 of that year that he perceived a “genuine need” for the new school.
“In 2007 this issue was a hot election topic but since then, like most other pre-election promises made by this [Labor] government, nothing has happened,” Mr Baumann said. Both Mrs Parker and Mr Baumann have since left Parliament.
There has been renewed debate about the issue in recent weeks after Labor promised to build the school if elected in 2019.
“[The Liberal Party] indicated that this is a priority in the community, then they formed government in 2011 and I’ve consistently got responses of ‘there is no need for this’,” current Port Stephens MP Kate Washington said.
When asked about the comments of previous Liberal members, Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald reiterated his stance against the need for the new school.
“Various Members of Parliament have made comments about the need for a Medowie High School over the last decade or more,” he said.
“However the 2009 Department of Education report was very clear about the lack of case for a new high school. This has since been reinforced by the flat senior public school numbers seen in the Port Stephens region over the last few years and the emergence of a Catholic Medowie school proposal.
“The rush for a necessarily small [public] high school is completely at odds with the best education environment attracting the best teachers.”