Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA (Liverpool) (17:21): I listened with interest to the member for Miranda. She has suddenly woken up to the fact that families are doing it tough in New South Wales. Anyone who has spoken to, and been actively involved in, their communities would know that it is an ongoing issue. After being the architects of the running down of the education system, health system and many other public institutions that families and communities across this State rely on, members opposite have the gall to turn up and talk about priorities.
TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr David Layzell): Members will come to order.
Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA: Let me tell them what their priorities were in the previous term of government. They conveniently left this Labor Government with $188 million worth of debt. Members opposite love to talk about cuts. They love to talk about the fact that it was communities across south-west and north-west Sydney—Labor communities—that they often cut vital resources from. Some members opposite have also conveniently forgotten that this was a one-off commitment. Let me remind them.
Ms Eleni Petinos: Prove it.
Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA: I will, because the member for Miranda has obviously forgotten it. On 21 June 2022, then finance Minister Damien Tudehope said "a one-off $150 back-to-school subsidy for every child undertaking primary or secondary school in 2023". Also, the Leader of the Opposition, on 29 January 2024, refused to commit to bringing them back. Ben Fordham said, "So you're not even promising to return them?" The Leader of the Opposition said, "Well, I'm not going to promise three years out." Members opposite have obviously conveniently forgotten this was a one-off commitment. As they said, it is important for a government to set priorities and direct funding and resources into the areas of the community where they will most make a difference. Let me tell them about the types of priorities that this Government is committing funds towards. We were talking about the important role that teachers have within our community. For 12 years under the Coalition Government, teachers were disrespected.
TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr David Layzell): The member for Dubbo and member for Tamworth will come to order.
Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA: They felt like they did not matter and were leaving, and had left, the profession in droves. Contrast that with last week when I visited Cecil Hills High School in my electorate with the Minister for Education and Early Learning, and Deputy Premier. A teacher had retired from the profession saying, "I feel disrespected. I do not feel like I can make a contribution to this profession anymore." He was contacted after the change in government and after the new Minister put respect for teachers back at the heart of public education. He said, "I will come back to the profession. I will come back to teaching in public schools." Under this Government, not only are many such teachers returning to the workforce under the teacher retention program but we also have the highest paid graduate teachers in the country. That is an indicator that public education is a central priority for this Government.
TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr David Layzell): Members will come to order.
Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA: Under the Opposition; however, not only did we have disrespect for teachers but we also had a 35 per cent increase in demountables. At schools like Castle Hill High School, there were 19 demountables. At Carlingford West Public School, there were 64 demountables and at Cumberland High School there were 26. In the growing parts of Sydney such as the south‑west and north-west, in the regions and in many of the communities that are doing it tough, we inherited a situation where whole suburbs of tens of thousands of families existed without access to free public education.
TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr David Layzell): The member for Dubbo and member for Tamworth will come to order.
Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA: Some of the schools in my community stepped up over the past few years to put more than their fair share back into the communities they support. Soon after I was elected, I spoke to a deputy principal of a high school in my electorate who told me that they get allocated a discretionary budget. Usually that goes towards funding an extra teaching position. They could not find teachers to fill that position so they put it towards providing students with the necessities such as breakfast and uniforms. Like I said, members opposite forget the priorities they had for 12 years. [Time expired.]
