School Infrastructure Projects

Mr BOYER (Wright) (14:31): My question is again to the Minister for Education. Given the capacity issues outlined by the minister in his previous answer, why is the minister not building a new school for the inner northern suburbs?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:31): I thank the member for the question. This government has been very serious when it comes to education infrastructure in taking advice from the education department about where the highest priorities are. Indeed, the education department did an enormous amount of analysis through 2018 and 2019, providing advice to the government about the capacity challenges identified at that time. Since then, when there have been suggestions of necessary work in new infrastructure projects we have been very eager to take the advice of the education department.

A range of ways in which the department provides that advice was given to this very parliament's Budget and Finance Committee for the upper house not two months ago, on 10 May. Earlier in question time, the member for Wright was trying to use that evidence to suggest something, that the government was somehow not pursuing our highest priority advice from the education department, when in fact the chief executive clearly articulated that the proposal the member refers to is not yet at the stage where the education department has seen fit to put forward a business case.

But he has made it very clear that there is work done on considering whether it is necessary. We have identified that it's a challenge. It's a challenge that is being managed at the moment. It's a challenge that is going to be okay for next year, and indeed the department are confident in the approach we have going forward. However, they have also identified that there is a dramatic challenge in the eastern suburbs, a challenge that those opposite were proposing to meet by making the complexity worse, by flogging off the land at Rostrevor for more housing and providing more pressure for the existing schools. I think all those high schools are scheduled to be over capacity by a significant amount if no further works are done.

So, as identified by the Infrastructure SA report, a business case is being considered. That's actually something we made public a couple of months ago. My suspicion is that the member for Wright hasn't read it, but it's available on the website for him to do so if he would like.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!