The NSW Nationals are calling on the Minns Labor Government to explain why there has been no progress in over a year at Broken Hill’s Willyama High School, after hundreds of students were unable to return due to a mould outbreak.
There were plans to demolish and rebuild the facility after it was deemed too dangerous to inhabit, but after 12 months the structure stands almost untouched.
More than 600 students were spread across three separate sites before being moved to a pop-up campus on the grounds of Broken Hill High School.
Education Minister Prue Car was questioned about the issue in a Budget Estimates hearing but failed to provide a timeline for the works.
Shadow Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said parents, students, and staff are completely fed up.
“The Broken Hill community has been through a lot in the last 12 months and they deserve to know when they will have a high school to return to,” Mrs Mitchell said.
“The Minister would not even reveal how much the rebuild will cost, how much of that will be covered by the insurer, and how much the government has allocated to the project, which is a massive red flag when it comes to ensuring it happens.
“The situation students are currently dealing with should only have been a temporary solution, yet they have been completely left in the lurch for over a year.”
Mrs Mitchell said while health and safety is the number one priority, the Minns Government needs to do more to provide stability because locals deserve better than what they are getting.
“If this happened in Sydney, there’s no doubt in my mind the Premier would be doing something about it. But when it happens in the bush, it’s simply not his priority.”
