Private Members' Statement

Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields) (18:06): Every child should have the opportunity to reach their full potential—every child, everywhere. Yet, so many children are being denied adequate support because of the Liberal Government's massive shortage in funding of support class placements.

Support classes are designed to meet the needs of students with different abilities or learning support needs, such as those with autism, an intellectual disability, behavioural issues or mental health issues.

I am often contacted by parents in my electorate who are desperate for help to get their child enrolled in a support class at one of our local public schools. It is not rocket science.

When demand outweighs supply, something must be done. It is time for action. I would say it is long overdue.

The stark reality is that there are simply not enough support class placements, or funding, to meet the growing needs of my local community—and, I suspect, the same needs of other communities.

Long waiting lists for support places or extra in‑class support mean that additional pressures are being placed on teachers and other students.

I have made dozens of representations to the education Minister on behalf of local parents who are looking for a support class placement for their child. Too often, I receive this response:

[The student] was found suitable for placement but unfortunately there continues to be no available vacancies.

It is simply not good enough. Parents voices, once a whisper, have now become a rallying cry for more support classes in our public schools as demand continues to skyrocket.

Every parent wants what is best for their child and is cognisant of the impact that the lack of support for their child has on the other children in the classroom. The Government has failed these parents, our teachers, our public education system and, above all, it has failed our kids.

Ignoring the needs of families in south‑west Sydney is typical of this Government.

After lengthy delays and obfuscation, families in Edmondson Park are still desperately waiting for a local public school. How much longer must they wait?

Bardia Public School, which in the past three years has tripled in size, will soon be bursting at the seams, with demountables taking up valuable open space.

Families are still waiting for the installation of traffic lights at the intersection outside Bardia Public School to improve pedestrian safety. Children's lives are being put in danger every single day, yet the Government continues to sit on its hands.

Students and parents have been left scratching their heads as to why the Government would open Denham Court Public School without adequate bus services.

Our community is also waiting on the first new fully selective high school in 25 years to be built at Leppington. This is long overdue and yet no progress has really been made.

The Government is quick to promise, yet awfully slow to deliver—if at all. It is time that the Government stopped its spin, stopped its rorts and stopped using taxpayers' money like its own political slush fund. It is time that the Government listened to the voices of families in my local electorate and many others throughout the State.

These are families who know the price of bread and milk, and who have had to swallow the bitter pill of rising petrol prices, along with the increased cost of living.

These are families who travel, at great inconvenience, out of their local area to send their kids to public school because the one they were promised is not built.

These are families who still wait for support class placements for their child, knowing that the list grows longer every single day as their hopes and dreams for their child continue to fade away.

This is life under the New South Wales Liberal Government. It is unfair and unacceptable. Local families deserve better. Our children deserve better.

Unlike the Government, I have listened to the needs of my local community and my local families. I refuse to accept the status quo.

I have launched a campaign for more support classes in our local public schools on behalf of the families in my electorate and, I believe, those in many other electorates across the State.

I will continue to fight for additional funding and specialist support placements in our local public schools because, frankly, our children deserve no less.