School Infrastructure Projects

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:22): My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister update the house on how the government investments in school capital projects are supporting the South Australian economic recovery?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:23): Thank you, and I am very pleased to have this question from the member for King who, as I have said on occasion previously, is passionate about education. She has a particular passion—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —and focus for the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum, and I have been glad to have some discussions with her about how we can better support that in our schools in recent days across all of South Australia, but she is also a fierce advocate for her local schools in the King electorate. And there is good news for those schools.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: There is good news for schools across South Australia—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —indeed, particularly at a time where the coronavirus has wreaked such havoc through the South Australian economy. It is also worth noting the important impact that those school building programs, and indeed school maintenance programs, are having in supporting jobs at a time when our unemployment challenge is so severe.

I have reported to the house previously that $7.6 million has been invested this year in a new program for preschools where every government preschool in South Australia has received now a $20,000 grant where they are working towards local maintenance projects: Greenwith, Madison Park kindy, One Tree Hill Preschool, Salisbury Heights Preschool and Salisbury Park Kindergarten in the member for King's electorate. All those preschools and kindergartens are now working through what with the extra support they will be able to do in their local areas.

The South Australian Liberal government also announced $25 million in addition to the usual spend on school maintenance projects this year. That has enabled about 100 projects, that were on the central register as needing work to be done as soon as possible, to be brought forward and done this year. So in the member for King's electorate—

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is called to order.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —three projects at the Salisbury East High School, totalling $355,000, are able to be progressed as soon as possible, including roof replacements and structural repairs, retaining wall stabilisations—tremendously important work at the Salisbury East High School. The member for King's electorate also includes several schools that are receiving school infrastructure projects, some of which have been on the books since 2017 and some of which have been enhanced since then with further spend.

Ready for the 2022 school year, with year 7s coming into high school and acknowledging the growing population needs demanding education in the school, the Golden Grove High School will benefit from a $15.5 million infrastructure project, which should be ready for the 2022 school year, more than a 50 per cent increase on that which it was expecting previously.

Also benefiting in the member for King's electorate will be the Greenwith Primary School, which will be completed during 2021—that $5 million project—and the Golden Grove Primary School, where scoping works and planning works are due to commence shortly. They form part of a $1.3 billion capital works program within the education budget. This is a record budget that this state has ever been spending on schools, as our recurrent spending on schools regularly is also at record levels.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is called to order.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Hundreds of millions of dollars extra—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Mawson!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —over that, which was in the budget left by our predecessors, hundreds of millions of dollars extra in regular spending over that which was in the budget left by our predecessors. Even better news right now is that shovels are in the ground at a range of schools. We have in Whyalla—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —in Angle Vale, in Aldinga, new schools being built, each of which will contribute more than $100 million into the economy, thousands of building jobs and construction jobs and great new schools to meet the needs of those local areas, and those other infrastructure projects, already work underway at Parafield Gardens, Ceduna, Gawler and District, Le Fevre High, Murray Bridge High School, Mount Barker High School, Nuriootpa Primary School, Paralowie school and Salisbury High School.

This is important work for the future of our education system, and it comes at a time when these building jobs will be so valuable for our economy, so valuable for the people who are doing the work on these projects, to have a pay cheque at the end of each week.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is warned. Leader.