Grievance Debate

School Zoning

Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (15:08): I rise today to talk about the broad impact of the city school zone cut on families across Badcoe. Four suburbs from the seat of Badcoe were suddenly slashed from the zone a few weeks ago, four suburbs remain in the zone and the rest of Badcoe has always been allocated to other school zones.

I have spoken before in this place about the huge disruption and grief that this decision, with no consultation, has caused to affected families, students and the extended community, but I have also been heartened, while joining parents who are passionately campaigning against this decision, to find that support for their plight comes not just from those who are directly affected but from people across Badcoe and much further still. That is because this decision revolves around major life decisions that we all make—where we live, the home we invest in and the education of our children.

People can readily empathise with parents for whom those decisions have now been thrown into disarray. People feel the intrinsic injustice in this decision. They feel that this could happen to them—a broken promise, no consultation and no warning—and they know how devastating that would be. People in Badcoe also feel another injustice. In the wake of the cruel school zone announcement, stumbling to find a fig leaf to cover their nonsensical decision, this government belatedly preached about the need to avoid the creation of elite public schools.

They told parents that all our schools are just as good as Adelaide High School or the brand-new Botanic High School. I agree that all our schools should be excellent. We should continue to strive for that, but actions speak louder than words. Days after retracting the city school zone, this government invested $185 million not into schools about to receive the students kicked out of the zone but into schools that many would already refer to as top-tier public schools.

Badcoe families are not stupid. People in my area know that you cannot complain about creating an elite public education system and then work to create such a system. One parent described it to me as having salt rubbed into a very fresh wound. It is great to see those schools getting more funding. Of course, as I mentioned, many students in Badcoe already attend Adelaide High School and some have now commenced at the beautiful Adelaide Botanic High School. But what about schools like Plympton International College, Hamilton Secondary College and Springbank Secondary College—the schools to which those excluded families are now being encouraged to send their children?

These schools are equally or even more deserving of the government's support. In government, Labor did just that: it invested in these schools. Labor supported Plympton International College, injecting $3 million of Building Better Schools funding into that school. Under Labor, that funding was slated for new drama and art facilities, upgrading the gym, additional class space, a resource centre, digital learning resources and asbestos removal. I was delighted to attend the opening of the new $3.5 million STEM centre at Plympton International College just a few weeks ago.

At Hamilton Secondary College, Labor injected $9 million from Building Better Schools. That was to be spent on extra and upgraded learning areas, a multipurpose art centre and improving the school's frontage. All that adds to the terrific Mike Roach Space Education Centre opened in 2017 at the school. At Springbank Secondary College, Labor allocated $10 million. That is hoped to be spent on extra class space, upgrading outdoor areas, boosting the arts centre, building a new sports science, technology, engineering and maths centre, as well as a sensory learning space and new entrance. Labor also contributed $250,000 towards rebranding the school and investing in marketing and signage to let the whole community know about the strides that are being made at this school.

That is what we did. But where is the commitment from the Liberals? There is none. It is fine to say that you support these schools, but you will be judged on your actions. This Liberal government's action is to expand the zones for these schools without expanding their resources and infrastructure or investing in further lifting teaching quality or curriculum. Worse than that, this government's failure to plan for its year 7 into high school pledge means the money Labor committed to improving these schools is now being scraped away.

These schools are being asked to pay for maintenance, including the floor collapse of a set of classrooms, out of the Building Better Schools funding. That is funding designed to improve the school's offering, not for general maintenance. Once again, this government has been found out. If you promise a policy like year 7 into high school, you need to fund it. If you change a policy, like the school zone, you need to provide the necessary accommodation for that shift. I urge this government to live up to its promises, to reverse the school zone cut and fund all our public schools properly.

The SPEAKER: The member for King.

Mr PICTON: Point or order, sir: I draw your attention to the fact that there are no ministers in the chamber at present.

The SPEAKER: That is definitely not a requirement of standing orders, so I will hear the member for King.