Mrs Wright has spent the best part of her almost three-year-long stint with the group dedicated to the funding and delivery of a new pre-school for Moama.
Ms Ley made a visit to the pre-school on Thursday to inspect the facility, which will be vacated by the group by the start of the 2024 school year.
Almost $3 million in Federal Government funding has supported the project, along with support from Murray River Council and the NSW Government.
In all, the project is worth $7 million and construction is expected to start in the first half of 2022.
Ms Ley was in Moama to visit the pre-school and also Rich River Golf Club, which benefited from a significant funding grant for an irrigation system on its western course.
She was also in Moulamein to open the new Moulamein Heritage Village and visited the Wakool Bowling Club.
Both were funded through the Federal Government’s Drought Communities Program.
Murray River Council has recently submitted the plans for the new Moama pre-school to the NSW Department of Planning, but there will be a four- to six-month delay in the approval process.
“We’ve had great communication with the Murray River Council. Everything is on track for us to have our first intake in 2024,” Mrs Wright said.
She could still be in the role at that point, as her two-year-old son, her third child, will then be at the age to attend the pre-school.
The pre-school committee’s annual general meeting will be held in February next year, with the new committee set to inherit a terrific facility during its tenure.
With up to 160 positions available for children at the new pre-school it will go from a two-room, four-class facility to four rooms and eight classes.
“We will also have a three-year-old program and the staffing levels will increase to 30 or 40,” Mrs Wright said.
“Everything will be double.”
The committee is also preparing to employ a new office administration trainee to work alongside the office manager.
“We’ve been able to create a new position on the back of this new project. We will be looking for a graduate to come on board in the next little while,” Mrs Wright said.
Mrs Wright and the minister spoke about the continuing support of the Federal Government to providing universal access to pre-schools for children.
Ms Ley was also discussing the new Distribution Priority Area classification program, which would provide local GP practices in communities such as Moama, Deniliquin, Finley, Barham, Mulwala and Corowa with more options and a larger pool of doctors to recruit from.
The Distribution Priority Area (DPA) classification identifies locations in Australia with a shortage of doctors.
