Preschool Funding

The Hon. D.R. CREGAN (Kavel) (14:18): My question is to the Minister for Education, Training and Skills. Can the minister please update the house on the government's plans to construct a new preschool and primary school in Mount Barker?

The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills) (14:18): I really appreciate this question from the member for Kavel and it also, of course, provides me with a welcome opportunity to acknowledge his service to this place after his recent announcement and to the cabinet as well in his role as a minister there. I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity as the Minister for Education in this state in getting to know the Mount Barker area a lot better and visiting schools with the member for Kavel. I think everyone in this place knows what a very fierce and unrelenting advocate the member for Kavel is for his area. He knocks the door down when it comes to championing causes in his electorate and fighting for new services.

The issues around school capacity, enrolment and the quality of the school infrastructure in his electorate were issues that the member for Kavel raised with me in the very first days of me becoming the Minister for Education in this state. We went away and did the piece of work that you would expect us to do as a government when we heard those stories around not only the status of the existing schools and how well they can cater for the students and children who are currently in them but also the capacity of the public education system in Mount Barker to cater for what is a fast-growing population.

I took the time to make a number of visits with the member for Kavel to visit the existing schools that we have there and talk to staff and families and get an idea for things that we can do better but also meet with the council around their shared desire around building new infrastructure there. We referred the matter to Infrastructure SA as well as doing a business case of our own, just to make sure that we had at our fingertips all the data we needed around that projected growth and what the capacity of the existing schools, both primary and secondary, would be to cater for that growing population.

Of course, we were very pleased in the 2024-25 state budget to be able to announce $61.1 million towards the establishment and construction of a new preschool and co-located primary school for the Mount Barker area, which I know was welcome news, of course, to the member for Kavel and really well received news for the whole broader Mount Barker community. It will create 100 preschool places, which is a pretty significant increase to the available preschool places in the Mount Barker area, and 350 primary places as well.

This is not just making sure that we can cater for existing enrolments in the area but making sure that what we build gives us the capacity to cater for the growth that we know is coming in Mount Barker. This is not out on the never-never. This $61.1 million that we announced for the new preschool and primary school will see the establishment of those services by 2028, which is now less than three school years away. I know this will come as an excitement to the member for Kavel and all those families in the Mount Barker area, and possibly even those who are considering a move to that beautiful part of our state, to know there will be really high-quality public education options available to them into the future as well.

It wasn't the only commitment that we made in terms of schools and public education infrastructure in the Mount Barker area. Of course, we also announced $9 million—$4 million last year and $5 million this year—towards an upgrade at Mount Barker High School. I think it is a great school—I have made a number of visits—but it is dealing with infrastructure in some cases that is a bit past its use-by date and needs some extra investment. We also announced $15.9 million for Oakbank School to make sure that it can grow its enrolments and do its share of the heavy lifting in the area.