EDEN HILLS PRIMARY SCHOOL

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (16:58): My question is to the Minister for Education. Why will the state government not fund approximately $110,000 for two 35,000-litre rainwater tanks required for bushfire fighting purposes at Eden Hills Primary School? Eden Hills Primary School is building three new classrooms and has been told the state government will not fund the $110,000 for two rainwater tanks required for bushfire purposes. Instead, the school has been told to reduce its budget for the fixtures and fittings component of the project at a cost of $110,000 to the project.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development) (16:58): If I understand the question, it is about a BER project. In relation to BER projects, the simple principle (which would apply to any project) is that the proponent (in this case, the commonwealth government) meets the cost of the project. I do not know the specific case but there is another school that has a similar issue, and the particular project triggers a CFS guideline that says there has to be an upgrade in the firefighting capacity of the project. So that becomes a cost of the project and part of the responsibility of the BER project. It is simply a matter of it being the cost of doing the work. It is a simple answer.