Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (11:18): My question is addressed to the Deputy Premier, Minister for Education and Early Learning. Will the Deputy Premier update the House on the Minns Labor Government's record school building program that is delivering 230 new and upgraded schools and preschools for students right across New South Wales?

Ms PRUE CAR (Londonderry—Deputy Premier, Minister for Education and Early Learning, and Minister for Western Sydney) (11:18): I thank the member for Campbelltown for the question. He knows that this Government made a strong commitment to the people in fast-growing communities that, if they built their lives there, we would build the schools their children need. We told them that they would no longer be left waiting for basic infrastructure such as the public primary schools and high schools that governments should always deliver in fast-growing communities. The member for Campbelltown knows about that because the population of south‑west Sydney is exploding. His electorate is seeing growth around southern Campbelltown, Menangle Park and Appin, and the Camden and Leppington electorates are seeing the same growth. The Government is delivering a record six public preschools in the member's electorate of Campbelltown. Construction is about to get underway at Thomas Acres Public School. At Woodland Road Public School, the frame is up, the roof is on and the fit‑out is in progress.

I remind members that we came to government after more than a decade in which the previous Government did not deliver one public preschool. At Emerald Hills in the nearby electorate of Leppington, we are building a new school for 550 new students. We expect planning approval on that very soon, with approvals happening much faster these days thanks to the planning Minister. Construction is due to get underway later this year. Far closer to my electorate, we are building a brand‑new school for 500 students at Grantham Farm in the Riverstone electorate. Public exhibition of those plans closes today, and I know that community would have had a lot to say. We aim to get construction on that school underway by the end of the year.

The truth is that School Infrastructure has never been busier in north-west and south-west Sydney, building the schools required for our growing communities. Of course, we inherited a situation in which the former Government left office with fewer schools than it started with. That is an insane statistic when one thinks about our population growth, particularly in north-west and south-west Sydney. There had been a 35 per cent increase in demountables. We all know that we need to use demountables as a stopgap measure, but they were more than a stopgap in areas like The Ponds—