School Infrastructure Projects

Ms THOMPSON (Davenport) (14:48): My question is to the Minister for Education, Training and Skills. How is the Malinauskas government supporting vital infrastructure upgrades in our public schools?

The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills) (14:48): I thank the member for Davenport for her question and her ongoing advocacy for her schools. This morning, I was very pleased to attend Seacliff Primary School to announce a targeted maintenance program for a whole range of public schools right across South Australia. In terms of the member for Davenport's seat, I am pleased to say that a number of her schools will receive a total amount of $3.6 million in vital infrastructure upgrades.

I know that it's not just the member for Davenport, but many members, if not all, in this place on both sides of the house, I am sure, will be thrilled by this announcement. The money that we are putting in here, almost $43 million, will go to things like fixing roofs, resealing bitumen courts—I think it is something like $5 million that we are spending on resealing bitumen—building and repairing fences and upgrading ageing infrastructure right across the public education system.

That includes schools like Seaview High School, who will benefit from the replacement of their heating, ventilation and cooling system, and the Australian Science and Mathematics School, who will receive upgrades covering things like stormwater management, ceiling repair, rubber soft fall replacement, balcony works, floor repairs and acoustic treatments as well. The member for Stuart, I am sure, would be pleased to learn that Port Augusta Secondary School will receive security system upgrades, and 10 sites across his electorate will share in about $5 million in really important lead abatement works as well.

These important works will happen in schools right around the state, from the four schools in the member for Frome's electorate, who will share in $1.7 million in funding, to the four schools in the member for Heysen's electorate, who will share in $2.2 million in funding. I know the member for Flinders will be pleased to learn that Cleve Area School will receive funding for disability upgrades to promote inclusivity to meet student needs. Miltaburra Area School will benefit from fencing works to ensure safety and protection of students, as will East Torrens Primary School in the Leader of the Opposition's electorate.

The 91 projects that we are funding across 82 different sites are a key way that we are endeavouring to deliver on the 20-year infrastructure plan that we announced earlier this year and also our strategy to make every school a great school. We have probably made the mistake in years gone past of focusing too much on schools that are always pushing at full enrolment and not doing enough to support some of those schools that have available enrolment capacity in doing the kinds of things that you need to do to make them more attractive for local families.

We know that, despite the fact that the staff in our schools will always be the biggest asset that we have, parents are always going to make an assessment about where they send their kids to school based on how a school looks. It's really important that we do that work not just in metropolitan schools, of course, but also in rural, regional and remote schools, which often miss out on some of that financial support because they have lower enrolment numbers. I am sure that what we have announced today, this $43 million across 82 sites and 91 projects, will go a long way to giving South Australian families the confidence they need to actually send their children to the local public school, and that's another issue I think we have had here.

A by-product of focusing too much on schools that are always full is we have incentivised South Australian families for a long time to drive to the other side of town to find a school that they are comfortable sending their kids to. There are a lot of great examples—I won't go into them today, though—of public schools, where we have supported them with capital infrastructure, great leadership from the school and specialisation, and they have been really able to boost their enrolment numbers, which is great for the local school, but particularly fantastic, though, for those families who live nearby.