Capital Works Projects

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (14:44): To the Minister for Education: minister, can you please update the house on the impact the Marshall Liberal government's investment in capital works is having on jobs—

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Chaffey will resume his seat. The member for Lee on a point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The standing orders are quite clear and, in fact, you have just ruled on the same point of order from the Minister for Energy—that questions are to be posed through the minister, not by direct personal pronoun to the minister themselves.

The SPEAKER: We are engaging in an opportunity to consider closely standing order 104. I uphold the point of order. I will, as I gave the member for West Torrens, give the member for Chaffey an opportunity to rephrase. The member for Chaffey might commence the question from the beginning and the member for Chaffey has the call.

Mr WHETSTONE: To the Minister for Education: minister, can you update the house on the impact the Marshall Liberal government's investment in capital works is having on jobs—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright!

Mr Brown: Quick, print another one out!

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford! The member for Lee on a point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Standing order 104: the member for Chaffey seems to be belligerently defying your ruling, sir.

Mr Malinauskas: Come on, Texas, you can do it!

Mr WHETSTONE: Is that the best you've got?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Playford is warned for a second time. The member for Chaffey is called to order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left! The member for Chaffey has the call.

Mr WHETSTONE: My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister update the house on the impact the Marshall Liberal government's investment in capital works is having on jobs and on schools?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:46): I thank the member for Chaffey for his question. It's a really important question, and I am very encouraged by the very—

Members interjecting:

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

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —high level of enthusiasm in the house for the school building program, indeed in Chaffey and around South Australia. There is some very good news in relation to this program because it is creating around the state thousands of jobs and leading a generational improvement in our educational facilities, a $1.4 billion program of infrastructure works, indeed a much more substantial program of infrastructure works than ever embarked upon or even promised in the latter stages of the dying days of a 16-year government.

It is an extraordinary investment by South Australia's government because we want to see our schools be world class. We want to see our students and our young people given every opportunity to learn in facilities that are designed for the curriculum to be taught in the way that we now teach the curriculum. There are more than a hundred projects around South Australia and more than five new schools being built, four of which will be in action on day one next year for 2022 and the fifth for the beginning of the 2023 school year.

Indeed, 18 of these projects have already been completed, and that's fantastic news for those schools, many of which are already using the facilities. I understand that at Brighton Secondary School the facility is complete and the students in year 8 will be moving into it at the beginning of term 4 so that they can have the opportunity to experience it, and it will be available for all the year 7s and 8s next year.

In the member for Chaffey's own electorate, the building works at Renmark High School are complete, a $5.17 million project. I know from when I visited with the member for Chaffey that that school is very much looking forward to being able to occupy those new spaces, as are the students and the teachers at Loxton High School. Their $5 million project is going to be complete before the end of this year.

Significantly, again in the member for Chaffey's electorate, there is the $17.8 million capital works program to bring together the two campuses of Glossop High School into Berri to become from year 7 to 12, with 800 students in Berri—the Berri Regional Secondary College as it will become known because, as it turns out, you can't call a school Glossop High School when it's in Berri. The school there is in fantastic shape. Its construction is very nearly completed and students from around that district will enjoy those state-of-the-art facilities. The leadership of the school has done great work.

Around South Australia, other projects have been completed at Balaklava; Blackwood; Brighton; Ceduna; Strathalbyn; Hallett Cove; Port Adelaide at the LeFevre High School, which was the first one to be completed; Mount Barker; Parafield Gardens; Plympton; Renmark; Salisbury; Victor Harbor; Willunga; and Wirreanda. Special options programs infrastructure worth $1 million has been completed at Kadina, and half a million dollars at John Pirie in Port Pirie, which will complement very well the very substantial works underway at Port Pirie.

Across South Australia there are dozens and dozens of other schools already using facilities from part-completed projects, because many of these schools are seeing not just one new building or one refurbished set of classrooms: they are seeing a number of builds, and as those staged works complete the schools are able to use them.

It is a massive body of work, and I commend all the architects and builders who have been involved in it. I commend those in the schools who have done it, I commend those who have created jobs and I commend the Treasurer and the Premier for having the vision to invest in education a record $1.4 billion capital spend. We have never provided more support to our schools, and our teachers and our education workforce have never done better work for our students. I commend them all.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for West Torrens, I warn the member for Hurtle Vale.