Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields—Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Minister for Building, and Minister for Corrections) (18:42): People are at the heart of every community campaign. As the local member for Macquarie Fields for 11 years and counting, I am inspired to work hard for those people every single day: the regular mums and dads that I see down at Ingleburn Fair or down at the local shops, who have been desperately seeking a public high school for their children in one of our fastest growing suburbs; Donna, in my local community, on her mobility scooter, who is eagerly awaiting long-overdue lifts at Macquarie Fields station; and the young families in Ingleburn and Macquarie Fields, who will soon be able to enrol their children in a public preschool adjacent to their public primary school.
Since the Minns Labor Government came to power in 2023, we have been committed to delivering for the people in my community and across the State, building a better New South Wales. I am particularly proud of the Government's track record for my local area. It is delivering long-awaited and much-needed infrastructure projects across my community. Take the Macquarie Fields station upgrade, for example. The Government is upgrading the station to make it accessible for all, delivering on an election commitment and giving people their fair share and nothing less than they deserve. The upgrade will be a significant game changer for many people in my local community—people with disability, older Australians, people with prams or luggage, or others who may be experiencing their own mobility challenges.
Let us not forget that the former Liberal Government politicised the whole transport access station upgrade program. Under the former Government, whether a station got an upgrade was based not on priority or need but on who the local member was and which political party they represented. That is totally unacceptable. The Liberals did not put the good people of Macquarie Fields first; they put them last. They had the audacity not to consider their needs at all. Our community—our hardworking, salt-of-the-earth people—were completely outraged due to being ignored.
That is not the case under the Minns Labor Government. It has demonstrated that people matter, regardless of their postcode or who their local MP is. The people of Macquarie Fields matter quite a lot to me. Lifts for Macquarie Fields are a promise that the Government is delivering on. Works are well underway. I have inspected the works a couple of times throughout the year, with the project expected to be completed later this year. When that time comes, it will be a day of great celebration for our local community after a long and hard-fought campaign. I could not have achieved it without the support and perseverance of the people in my local area. I congratulate them and thank them for their support for our local campaign to ensure that our community gets its fair share. By the end of this year, Donna will be able to wheel her mobility scooter over to the station and press the button to the lifts. What a red-letter day that will be for her and for so many other people in the Macquarie Fields community.
Young people matter—they are our future—and that is why the Government is rebuilding public education by investing $3.9 billion in new and upgraded schools across Western Sydney. In my local area, a public high school is finally being built at Edmondson Park. Enrolments for years 7 and 8 are now open, which is an exciting development. The school is long overdue. Since I was first elected, in 2015, I have campaigned with local families for a public high school. The former Liberal Government ignored our community's needs, despite the fact that people were moving into the area at a rate of knots. Unlike the former Government, our Government is investing in the growing parts of Western Sydney, putting in place infrastructure and investing in our community, where people actually live. I am pleased to report that Edmondson Park High School is on track to open on the first day of term 1 in 2027—a great win for young people and local families.
Our children matter, and that is why the Government is investing $769 million to deliver 100 new public preschools, co-located with our local public primary schools. Work is well underway to deliver two new public preschools in my electorate, one at Curran Public School in Macquarie Fields and one at Sackville Street Public School in Ingleburn. Those projects will enable more children in my electorate to access a high-quality preschool program before starting school. It is an honour to represent my local community in this place. In my electorate, people want to see a better future for themselves and their local community—whether it be through transport upgrades, new schools or investment in infrastructure. Our growing community deserves no less. With the countdown to the next election in 2027 well underway, we still have a lot more work to do, but we are getting on with the job of building a better New South Wales and a better future for the people of our communities. It is a future that will deliver for more people across the State, including my own local community in Macquarie Fields.
