23rd September, 2026
My question is directed to the Deputy Premier, Minister for Education and Early Learning.
My question is directed to the Minister for Education and Early Learning. Will the Government advise the House of the improved school student bus transport routes, services and connections that would provide Wollondilly electorate students and their families with equity in transport access to and from the Targeted Sports Program at Eagle Vale Sports High School commencing Term 1 2027?
Ms PRUE CAR (Londonderry—Deputy Premier, Minister for Education and Early Learning, and Minister for Western Sydney) (11:24): I thank the member for Wollondilly. She is a tireless advocate for access to public education in her community. It has been a real privilege to be able to work with her on many projects. Of course, every child deserves access to world-class public education.
That is a guiding principle of the Government each and every day. Part of that is working closely across agencies to ensure that we can improve student transport planning. A key part of our delivery in public education and rebuilding public education in the State has been delivering the new Talented Sports Program at Eagle Vale Sports High School. We made that commitment in opposition because of the significant growth in the south-western Sydney region and the fact that there was no dedicated sports high school for talented young athletes.
Mrs Sally Quinnell: That's right.
Ms PRUE CAR: That meant students from Wollondilly, students from Camden—that was a nicely timed interjection from the member for Camden—and
students from Campbelltown were having to travel long hours every week to access a sports high school. The specialised Talented Sports Program is one of the very best programs we offer in public education in New South Wales. The upgrade at Eagle Vale is well underway, providing new and upgraded facilities for the school. While the sports stream has been welcomed and has reduced travel times for families in the region with talented children, it is attracting students from a broad geographic catchment—as these specialist schools do, as opposed to schools that offer spots only within one geographic area—which is creating its own transport challenges.
The department is working closely with Transport for NSW. We have established a joint education and transport forum to strengthen cross-agency
accountability and support equitable access to education. The department's school infrastructure team is working directly with Eagle Vale Sports High School through initiatives like the travel mode survey to get the data on how many students may need to come to Eagle Vale or are interested in coming to Eagle Vale from outside the existing transport services. It is not always possible to provide direct school bus services for every journey because students are travelling across large areas of the State. But we need to plan for the future and explore solutions to provide options for families. Mr Craig Butler is an excellent principal who has been arguing for this for a long time. He is quite the sports person himself. He is working with local bus operators as well to explore transport options. [Extension of time]
We will keep collecting data to make sure that we monitor enrolments for 2027 as the Talented Sports Program grows. That is important. We want a clear picture of demand from the growing communities that the member represents. I acknowledge that those communities are growing exponentially, including The Oaks, Wollondilly, Camden, Oran Park and others. This is all part of our plan to ensure that students in the south-west of Sydney and further into the Wollondilly electorate can access the schools they deserve, like we have been doing at Wilton also in the Wollondilly electorate. We are delivering a new public preschool, primary school and high school. The member has been arguing for those for years. She came in after the previous incumbent member in the Liberal-Nationals Government. Unfortunately, she is the member for the electorate where they built a high school without walls at Picton.
We are working to ensure that the member's constituents and their children can access public education, whether it is building new schools at Wilton
or working across government with my cross-agency colleagues to ensure that students can access an excellent offering at Eagle Vale—the very first sports high school in south‐western Sydney. That school was established to ensure that students in the member's electorate—and those in the electorates of Leppington, Macquarie Fields, Camden and Campbelltown—can access opportunities. The school at Eagle Vale will create future Olympians.