With the expected population boom the Canterbury-Bankstown Council estimates that 36 new primary schools and 12 new high schools, as well as other important social infrastructure, will be needed.

Despite this the Berejiklian Government has not made a single new school announcement along the entire corridor. 

NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley joined Shadow Education Minister and Member for Lakemba Jihad Dib today at Wiley Park Public School, which is at 103 per cent capacity and sits next to Government-owned land which the school is unable to expand on.

Labor will have an unprecedented school building program which will give the Greater Sydney Commission the power to seize surplus Government land from other departments and agencies in order to build and expand government schools. 

Labor will also exempt school authorities from being forced to pay exorbitant local infrastructure charges and to be involved from the very beginning of the land rezoning process.

Furthermore, under a Foley Labor Government every new school will be required to have childcare, or before and after hours care facilities on site.  And that new schools will be designed as multi-purpose, modern education precincts - ensuring our schools are not left as vacant buildings when not in use.

Quotes attributable to NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley

“100,000 extra people and not a single new school. This tells you everything you need to know about the Liberal’s wrong priorities for Sydney.

“Wherever you look around Sydney you get the new high-rises but not the schools needed to accompany the population growth.

“Schools are packed with demountables and kids have fewer and fewer areas to run around on and play at recess and lunch.

“Under Labor’s policy, unused Government owned land will be handed over to the local schools for playing fields and added space.”

Quotes attributable to Shadow Minister for Education Jihad Dib MP

“We’ve got very detailed plans for 35,000 new dwellings but not one single mention of a school.

“The Government will plonk thousands of extra people in the area but they won’t look at the social infrastructure needed.

“Schools in my electorate are already at or above capacity – with more demountables on the way.

"It beggars belief that nowhere along the planning process did anyone had the foresight to consider schools as a crucial piece of social infrastructure"

 Quotes attributable to Member for Bankstown Tania Mihailuk MP

“The last budget showcased yet again that upgrading Bankstown’s schools is not a priority for this Government.

“This Government is planning to dump a sea of high rise units along our rail corridor but is not prepared to fund schools and critical social infrastructure to support the drastic population increase.

Quotes attributable to Member for Canterbury Sophie Cotsis MP

“Canterbury is not getting its fair share of education spending.

“The Berejiklian Government has its priorities completely wrong; the Government is targeting our community for extreme growth. This is unsustainable and an abrogation of their responsibility to give our kids a world class education.

“Our local schools are already under enormous pressure which will get worse with this extreme growth.  This Government is simply out of touch.”

Quotes attributable to Member for Summer Hill Jo Haylen MP

“One of the worst features of these plans is the failure to provide the community infrastructure our communities rely on.

 “That means thousands of extra people on already crammed roads and in schools and child-care centres, and extra families crammed into doctor’s waiting rooms and hospitals.

“The recent Budget failed to commit new classrooms for Marrickville or Dulwich Hill, despite the fact over 75 per cent of schools in my electorate are at or approaching capacity.”