House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1) 52 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Stradbroke Schools STRADBROKE SCHOOLS Mr GARDNER House of Assembly Morialta STRADBROKE SCHOOLS Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (14:59): My question is also for the Minister for Education. Given that the Stradbroke Primary School and the Stradbroke Junior Primary School communities have formally rejected amalgamation proposals on three separate occasions and remain opposed to amalgamation, what consideration is being given to the wishes of those communities? The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly Cheltenham Minister for Education Minister for Early Childhood Development STRADBROKE SCHOOLS The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development) (14:59): I thank the honourable member for his question. If they are two of the schools that fit within the schools that are to be co-located, they will have access to a share of the $27 million of capital funding, which is available to support the amalgamation of those schools that exist side-by-side on the same site. We will discuss that proposition again with them. In the event that those consultations are unable to seek the agreement of the school, we will invoke the provisions that exist under section 14 of the act. The provisions of the act do provide, in the ultimate, for the government to make this decision after undertaking a period of consultation. However, in the first instance we will seek to reach agreement with these schools, and we are confident that we will reach agreement with a number of these schools.