16 News

Students in Bomaderry have started Term 4 in their new world-class public school facilities three months ahead of schedule, following a recently-completed stage of an upgrade for Bomaderry High School.

Member for Kiama Katelin McInerney officially opened the school’s new Technological and Applied Studies (TAS) building, with home economics and industrial arts lessons underway in new workshops for woodwork, metalwork, and food technology.

Bomaderry students will now be able to use the new facilities to learn contemporary skills on industry-standard equipment, providing a pathway for students to tertiary education and employment in the region.

Students and staff are already benefiting from major improvements, with a new administration office and refurbishment works to two buildings—including the installation of two new lifts to enhance accessibility—now complete and in use.

Further upgrades at Bomaderry High School are on the way, including the refurbishment of almost 50 existing classrooms and the installation of a new vocational education kitchen.

For over a decade, the former Liberal National government neglected public schools on the South Coast and failed to deliver the Bomaderry High School upgrades, despite promising to do so in 2021.

The upgrade to Bomaderry High School is among 12 new schools and major upgrades being delivered across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven region, including:

• Calderwood – new public school and public preschool
• Dapto High School – new covered outdoor learning area
• Flinders – new high school
• Milton Public School – upgrade
• Minnamurra Public School – new nature playground
• Nowra East Public School – upgrade
• Ulladulla High School – upgrade
• Ulladulla Public School – upgrade
• Vincentia High School – upgrade
• West Dapto – new public school and public preschool
• Worrigee – new public school and public preschool

The Minns Labor Government is also building nine additional new public preschools in the region, offering more than 700 places per week for the area’s youngest learners.

The public preschools will be co-located with Barrack Heights, Berkeley West, Bomaderry, Cringila, Greenwell Point, Hayes Park, Lake Heights, Lake Illawarra South, and Sanctuary Point public schools.

These upgrades reflect the NSW Government’s commitment to delivering better schools for NSW students. The 2025–26 Budget includes a record $9 billion investment in school infrastructure, with $2.1 billion allocated to new and upgraded schools in regional NSW.

Alongside the Minns Labor Government’s investment in education infrastructure, we are making sure there are more teachers in front of students in NSW classrooms and have reduced teacher vacancies by 96 per cent in the electorate of Kiama.

Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning Courtney Houssos said:

“These upgrades represent our significant investment in the Bomaderry community and will deliver long-term benefits for local students and their families.

“For far too long, families on the South Coast were promised new schools and upgrades that never progressed past a media release by the Liberals.

“The Minns Labor Government, with the leadership of Deputy Premier Prue Car, is committed to building better public schools for our children.”

Member for Kiama Katelin McInerney said:

“It is crucial that our students have access to a world-class public education, and that is being delivered.

“Our government is investing in ensuring students learn in the best quality learning environment possible, have access to modern, industry-standard equipment that sets them up for success in their learning and the workforce, and an education experience that builds their belief in themselves so they can go out and make our community an even better place.”

Bomaderry High School Principal Ian Morris said:

“These new upgrades are just brilliant. Importantly our students can see that the equipment and facilities they have are absolutely world class.

“Our students are excited by them and the new office at the front of the school is a game changer for our community.

“Our support staff feel more valued as their workplace has been completely modernised, and our students will leave school with experience using industry-standard hospitality, woodwork and metalwork equipment.

“This level of support for regional education is just fantastic and welcomed by our entire school community.”

The Minns Labor Government is positioning NSW to be a global leader and industry partner in the race for critical minerals, rare earths elements and high-tech metals by supporting millions of dollars of investment in exploration.

The NSW Government has announced grants that will facilitate around $5 million of funding for 29 exploration projects to undertake drilling, geophysics and geochemistry exploration and find the next major critical minerals project.

Under the Critical Minerals and High Tech Metals Exploration Program, the NSW Government will provide almost $2.5 million in co-investment funding to the 29 projects. Explorers must then match it to receive the funding.

By partnering with the mining industry to pursue exploration, we can help discover more deposits of the critical minerals needed to manufacture modern technologies, including electric vehicles, mobile phones and solar panels.

Global demand for copper is rising rapidly, with prices climbing more than 20% this year. NSW is stepping up to meet this demand. Copper production in the state has increased by a third over the past three years, to around 190,000 tonnes this financial year.

With 21 of the 29 projects focused on copper exploration, this investment builds on NSW’s position as an industry partner and leading global supplier, and helps unlock new deposits to support the electrification of the economy, as well as AI data centres, clean energy technologies and infrastructure.

As demand for rare earth elements – naturally occurring metallic elements with powerful magnetic properties – grows in strategic importance, NSW is also supporting its exploration and production.

New exploration being supported by this round of funding is targeting opportunities for rare earth elements and zirconium.

Other minerals being targeted for exploration include silver and cobalt, vital to renewable energy technologies, manufacturing, infrastructure, and advanced medical equipment and diagnostics tools.

Successful applicants in the Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program include:

• Waratah Minerals to undertake drilling activities to explore for copper at the Spur Porphyry Project in the renowned Macquarie Arc. Waratah Minerals previously discovered one of the most significant copper-gold deposits in NSW in the last decade.
• Neo Double Eagle Resources will explore for rare earth elements crucial in the production of smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence technologies, with drilling activities at Binge Grumble Mountain.
• Alkane Resources will undertake drilling activities in the Central West using a new exploration model suggesting that hidden deep beneath the historic gold mines at Peak Hill may lie undiscovered copper resources. This project demonstrates that underexplored areas exist underneath known historic deposits.
• Silverton Minerals will be employing an innovative, low-impact technology which passively measures the natural electromagnetic fields in an exploration area generated by distant lightning strikes to identify possible mineral-bearing structures beneath the ground northwest of Broken Hill.

Exploration is critical in the early stages of any mining project. Intense and highly scientific activities are required to confirm the strength of a mineral deposit and its viability before a company can consider going through the planning process.

Already, there are approximately 1500 exploration titles currently being explored for minerals across the state, and this funding will further aid the search for the next big critical minerals, high-tech metals or rare earth elements deposit.

There are currently 15 active major metals and critical minerals mines across NSW, employing more than 6,000 people, mostly across the Central West and Far West.

The announcement comes as NSW prepares to host the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC), the largest international mining event in the Southern Hemisphere, with more than 10,000 delegates from 120 countries set to participate in Sydney this week.

The NSW Government is also hosting the Critical Minerals Investment Showcase, promoting investment-ready projects across the state to global funders from Europe, the Middle East, India, Korea and Japan.

This funding round is a key pillar of the NSW Government’s Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy which is driving new investment in critical minerals and high-tech metals exploration production, processing and manufacturing.

Successful projects will commence exploration in coming months, advancing the search for critical minerals and high-tech metals needed to support future industries and power our way to Net Zero. 

Further information about the successful projects and recipients is available at Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program.

Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos:

“NSW has the critical minerals and high-tech metals that the world needs to drive a clean energy future, create new jobs, and build resilient supply chains.

“Whether it’s the copper we need for data centres, antimony for batteries, or the rare earth elements for electric vehicles,  NSW has the opportunity be at the centre of the critical minerals boom.

“These co-investment grants highlight the Minns Labor Government’s partnering with industry, and for NSW to be a leading player in the global race for critical minerals.

“NSW has an abundance of critical minerals and high-tech metals waiting to be discovered. We’re supporting miners and explorers alike to boost supply of these strategically important resources. 

“This is the biggest round of exploration funding ever offered in NSW. From exploration to production, we are supporting targeted initiatives at each stage of the project pipeline.”

Live music venues will get an important boost from a new Spotify ‘Venue Pages’ feature after calls from the Minns Labor Government to prioritise NSW for the rollout.

Sydney will join New York, London, and Paris as one of the first cities in the world to benefit from this new feature. This is the result of direct discussions between the Minns Labor Government and Spotify AUNZ about bringing more of the benefits of music streaming to local venues and artists.

Launching today across nine countries, Venue Pages will give NSW live music venues their own home on Spotify, to list their gigs to make it easier for fans to go from streaming their favourite artists to buying tickets and seeing them live. Features include:

• Dedicated venues pages which allow users to search for venues, follow their favourites, save them to their libraries, access their gig guides, show details and new announcements.
• A live events feed updated daily, delivering show recommendations curated on user location, listening habits, and venues followed.
• Direct link from Spotify venue listings to official ticketing partner to securely purchase tickets, creating a quick link between music discovery and live music experiences.
• Spotify will run an on-platform marketing campaign and educations sessions for NSW venues in the weeks following tomorrow’s announcement.

Working with Spotify to increase its positive impact on the local live music scene is part of a wider set of initiatives from the Minns Labor Government to support the industry as it faces challenges from cost increases, changing audience habits and an increase in local audiences streaming overseas artists. Key measures have included the establishment of a $160,000 prize pool for the NSW Music Prize and the adoption of Michael’s Rule which incentivises international artists to book an Australian support act.

The NSW Government will continue to work with Spotify AUNZ on the roll out and will also support local venues with training to maximise their engagement with this new feature.

Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy John Graham said: 

“We applaud Spotify for bringing Venue Pages to Australia and expect it to drive more local listeners to local gigs, which is great news.

“We’ve been working with Spotify, discussing ways they can use their immense global power to boost our local music scene. Streaming has sometimes hurt the local music scene, but this is a turning point where Spotify is increasing its support for it.

“Our local live music scene is the talent factory for the future of NSW music, but local gigs and venues have been under cost and demand pressures. This boost from Spotify is extremely welcome and dovetails perfectly with all the other support we’re delivering.

“Spotify helps Australian artists reach overseas audiences, but local audiences have increasingly been drawn to overseas artists. This initiative helps swing more of the benefits of Spotify to local artists and venues, which is much welcomed.” 

Alicia Sbrugnera, Head of Music at Spotify AUNZ, said:

“Venues are the foundation of a thriving local music scene, so giving venues a home on Spotify means helping fans to go from streaming their favourite artists to seeing them live.

“In the Australian rollout of Venue Pages, we’re excited to work closely with the NSW Government and the Minister for Music and Night-time Economy, John Graham, to support venues, artists, and Australian music.”

The Minns Labor Government is supporting a more stable gas supply for NSW by backing the repurposing of an existing pipeline to transport gas from South Australia to the east coast of NSW.

The NSW Government has given APA Group the green light to convert its Moomba to Sydney Ethane Pipeline, adding stability to the gas network by making better use of existing infrastructure.

The approved licence variation allows for the conversion and unlocks the opportunity to deliver an extra 20-25 terajoules of gas per day, which is equal to the annual gas use of about 1,300 NSW homes.

This switch helps ensure a more reliable gas supply to meet existing needs, as the state increases renewable energy generation to replace ageing coal-fired power stations.

The 1,200km high-pressure pipeline has sat idle since 2023 when the previous single customer of the pipeline ceased operations.

APA Group proposed to repurpose the pipeline as part of its East Coast Gas Grid expansion program, a five-year initiative aimed at enhancing the transmission and storage capacity of natural gas across the east coast.

The decision to approve the licence variation followed a rigorous review of the safety, environmental and technical considerations involved in the project.

Gas from the repurposed pipeline is expected to be flowing by the end of the year, to help reduce the supply gap emerging across the east coast.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Penny Sharpe:

“This decision demonstrates the Minns Labor Government’s commitment to maintaining a reliable supply of gas while we transition to a cleaner, more sustainable energy system.

“The plan to repurpose the pipeline is a short-term measure that will boost gas supply to the east coast and complements the other work we are doing to manage supply risks and price issues.”

Northern Rivers residents will take their adaptation stories to the big screen this week as part of the Adaptation Stories short films initiative.

Produced and curated by Living Lab Northern Rivers, in partnership with the NSW Reconstruction Authority, Adaptation Stories captures eight Northern Rivers locals as they navigate real change in response to the shifting climate.

Each film captures personal journeys of resilience and creativity, showcasing how individuals are thinking about what adaptation can mean for themselves and their communities.

From farmer-led strategies in Richmond Valley, to arts-based perspectives in Lismore, youth engagement in regenerative futures in Tweed, and lessons we can learn from Country in Byron, each film explores diverse approaches to adaptation across the region.

Adaption Stories is part of the Community Conversations engagement initiative supporting the Northern Rivers Disaster Adaptation Plan (DAP) currently being developed by the NSW Reconstruction Authority, with the films aiming to spark conversations among community.

Free screenings will be held at Woodburn, Byron Bay, Grafton, Lismore, Uki and Ballina from Thursday 23 October until December. At each screening, a Q&A session will be held with local community leaders. The first screening is at Woodburn on Thursday 23 October 2025.

For more details on screenings and locations visit https://events.humanitix.com/host/living-lab-northern-rivers.

Learn more about the Northern Rivers Disaster Adaptation Plan including how the community can get involved at www.nsw.gov.au/reducingrisk/NRdap.

Minister for Recovery and North Coast Janelle Saffin said:

“We need to shift the dial to properly focus on adaptation and resilience to ensure communities are better prepared for and can recover better from disasters.

“We are creating the first ever Disaster Adaptation Plan for the Northern Rivers and sharing stories and experiences is vital its success. 

“I encourage everyone – young and old, to please attend a screening and listen and share your thoughts and ideas, because it’s too important not to.”

Living Lab Northern Rivers: Engagement Director Dan Etheridge said:

“We don’t adapt alone, we adapt together. These short films have been made to get people talking with each other. I want to know what other people in my community are thinking about climate change adaptation and this is especially true when our government is developing a new plan to drive adaptation and reduce our exposure to disasters.”

Filmmaker and director Poppy Walker said:

“These stories reveal the thoughtful and diverse ways people are engaging in climate adaptation. When audiences hear their neighbours — Traditional Custodians, farmers, artists and business owners — sharing their perspectives on what adaptation could look like, it helps shape thinking and conversations around what we can do in our communities.” 

The NSW Opposition acknowledges today’s announcement by the NSW Government that Northern Beaches Hospital will return to full public ownership by mid-2026.
 
We recognise the extraordinary courage and persistence of Elouise and Danny Massa, whose advocacy following the tragic death of their son, Joe, has led to this significant change.
 
The Opposition has consistently supported measures to improve safety and transparency at Northern Beaches Hospital, including:
 

• The Parliamentary Inquiry into the hospital’s performance,
• The Coronial Inquest and Independent Review of the Emergency Department, and
• The creation of Joe’s Law, to prevent any future public-private partnerships in acute care hospitals.

 
We have also supported the return of the public component of the hospital, including the emergency department, to full public control.
 
The Opposition also notes the concerns raised by doctors, the AMA, and the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee about the future of private services under this arrangement.
 
The Northern Beaches community has one of the highest levels of private health insurance coverage in the state, and residents deserve reassurance that access to private care will not be diminished.
 
The Opposition remains ready to work cooperatively with the Government to ensure a smooth and safe transition that maintains choice, protects jobs, and delivers high-quality health care for the Northern Beaches community.

Apprenticeship and traineeship numbers have plunged across New South Wales, worsening the state’s housing crisis and leaving young people and small businesses without the skills needed to build the future.
 
New data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) shows just over 42,000 apprentices and trainees commenced in the 12 months to March 2025.
 
This is the lowest level in more than five years.
 
The data also reveals more than 8,000 fewer apprentices are currently in training compared with the same period in 2024.
 
Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman said the Minns Labor Government is failing to back the workers New South Wales needs.
 
“The Minns Labor Government promised to skill up the next generation, but instead they’re letting apprenticeship numbers fall off a cliff. Every lost apprentice means another young person missing out on a career and another builder, plumber or electrician not on the tools to build the homes families need,” Mr Speakman said.
 
Shadow Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Justin Clancy said the data is a warning sign for the future of housing and jobs in New South Wales.
 
“You can’t fix a housing shortage when there are fewer tradespeople to build homes. In just one year Labor has gone backwards on apprenticeships,” Mr Clancy said.
 
“The Government talks about adding 23,000 construction apprentices, but on these figures that’s simply not credible. Labor’s approach is failing young people who want a trade and employers who need skilled workers. The Minns Government needs to stop the spin and start delivering real results for skills, training and housing in New South Wales.”