HIGH SCHOOLS, ADELAIDE

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Education. Will the minister now take the advice given by the Land Management Corporation and adopt Liberal Party policy to build a second city high school campus at the former Clipsal site at Bowden? FOI documents confirm that the Land Management Corporation advised the education department more than two years ago that, 'DECS will most certainly need to consider the Bowden Village development proposal in forward planning of education and early childhood services.'

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:56): I thank the honourable member for her question, and perhaps the earlier and more proximate decision would be to accept her recommendations, because she participated in the Adelaide High School Governing Council decision to make a recommendation about expanding Adelaide High School. That is obviously going to be a much more proximate decision to meet the needs of inner city schooling. So, we are expanding, as we committed to at the election, Adelaide High School by 250 places. That will permit us to expand the zones in the inner northern area, which I understand is at the heart of the concerns for residents within the Adelaide electorate.

I also know that there are proposals that have been generated as part of the master planning exercise for the Clipsal site. Sensibly, the people who are involved in that planning are thinking about the future needs of that site and the future needs of inner city schooling, so they have considered the possibility of there being some future possibility for schooling at that site. I understand they have carried out some exercise that indicates that there is ample primary school accommodation, but there may be a possibility of some demand for some high school accommodation. That is something that will be given consideration in due course.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: As the Minister for Infrastructure reminds me, that precinct will be built over the next 15 years, obviously creating demands of its own for services, including education services. But, no, the thing that we will do is the thing we promised to do at the election, which was to expand Adelaide High School. We asked the Adelaide High School Governing Council to assist us in the design of plans. They came back with two preferred options. We chose one of those, the second of their preferences. That was a preference that did involve some small encroachment on the Parklands, which was not consistent with the original proposition that we had put, so that obviously meant that we had to give some careful consideration to that.

We think, notwithstanding that, it is a proposal that we should take forward and we will now have discussions with the relevant planning authorities, the Parkland authorities and the Adelaide City Council, and we will proceed with the expansion of the Adelaide High School site, which will provide those much needed extra 250 places.