200 ELECTION COMMITMENTS DELIVERED

The NSW Government has honoured more than 200 election commitments delivering new hospitals, schools and record jobs growth across NSW. Over the past two years the NSW Government has:

• Opened and upgraded 14 hospitals including Royal North Shore, Blacktown and Mt Druitt, Campbelltown and Prince of Wales Hospitals.
• Delivered more schools and classrooms including funding for new schools at North Kelyville and Bella Vista and more than 1100 new classrooms, providing more than 25,000 additional student places. 15 new and relocated schools are either in construction or the design/ planning stages, while 24 major upgrades are in construction or in the design/planning stages.
• Created more new jobs NSW has the lowest unemployment of any state in Australia – at 5.2 per cent. Since 2011, 300,300 jobs have been added in NSW, accounting for almost 37 per cent of new jobs across Australia in that time.
• Invested record amounts on infrastructure 16 of our major infrastructure projects have moved into the construction phase, including WestConnex, NorthConnex and Newcastle Light Rail. Some $11.5 billion of the $20 billion Rebuilding NSW program has already been committed to a range of priority projects while tunnelling has been completed for the Sydney Metro Northwest.
• Increased housing supply Housing approvals and completions are at all-time highs. While we know we have more to do on tackling housing affordability, we have made massive progress on closing the housing gap left behind by Labor.
• Boosted regional infrastructure We have committed nearly $500 million to build a pipeline to secure Broken Hill’s water supply, we are halfway through the $4 billion program to upgrade the last 155km section of the Pacific Highway to four lanes and are continuing to invest record amounts into regional hospitals and schools.

FIRST STEM SCHOOL COMING TO WESTERN SYDNEY

The first school in NSW fully devoted to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education will open in 2021 at the planned Sydney Science Park in Western Sydney. This is an historic moment and a real win for NSW. With its dynamic population, new infrastructure programs and rapid growth, Western Sydney is the perfect location for the state’s first STEM school. The school will be the first of its kind in NSW and is the product of a collaboration between the Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta, who will build the school, and Sydney Science Park developers, Celestino. It will cater for more than 2000 students from pre-school to post-Year 12 and offer unique opportunities for students to collaborate with and learn from the research institutions and industry based at the park. A dedicated STEM school at the heart of this vibrant new precinct enables us to embrace a new era in education, one where curiosity and creative thinking are critical. The STEM program would prepare students for the jobs of the future. We desperately need more students studying science at university and this school will enable us to think beyond mainstream learning into a world of endless new possibilities. The $5 billion, 280-hectare Sydney Science Park will be a leading international centre for research and development with a focus on food security, health and energy. Detailed planning for the first stage of the project is underway. Construction of the Sydney Science Park STEM school is expected to begin in late 2017 or early 2018. The school is due to open in 2021.

CONGRATULATIONS

70th Wedding Anniversary Mr Peter and Mrs Sybil Jones