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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-07-02 Daily Xml
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UNLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL

Mr GOLDSWORTHY (Kavel) (14:45): My question is to the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr GOLDSWORTHY: —Minister for Infrastructure. Will the minister allow Unley Primary School, located in a heritage character zone, to have the same specifically designed hall to complement the heritage buildings on site and in the surrounding streets, as has been the case with the North Adelaide Primary School?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON (Elder—Minister for Transport, Minister for Infrastructure, Minister for Energy) (14:45): I have heard a bit of nonsense about this, I must say. Can I explain the process for these matters in South Australia—and, of course, to understand why we have that process you need to understand the background. The background is that part of the federal government's stimulus package involved giving cash grants to people—which the Liberal Party said would never work, but the current retail figures show that it has worked, and worked in bucket loads. It also introduced a number of infrastructure packages, including one for school buildings. We welcomed this, as we did the additional funds for school maintenance. I note that the Liberals opposed the spending of this money in our schools and have continued to oppose it, and the only questions we have on it are criticisms of the project.

The project involved something like 590 school projects to be completed in 18 months, and those projects vary between roughly $500,000 and $3 million. That is obviously an extremely large challenge. It is important to reduce delay, so the planning processes have been truncated to the extent that the Coordinator-General is the planning authority. The way we have set it up and the way we have done it has been complimented nationally. We are considered to be the best at it of all the states.

We have heard some nonsense about what is going to be approved at Unley. My understanding (and I will check this) is that the last time we spoke about it there had been no application from Unley for planning approval of any type. The Unley school will not be required to take something it does not want and, when an application does come, it will be judged on its merits and whether it is appropriate. It is recognised by the Coordinator-General that what is appropriate in one site may not be appropriate in another.

The process involves engaging designers and architects, and we believe it is going very well. An application from Unley will be decided on its merits and will not be approved unless it suits the circumstances for that school. I note that, despite the fact that this is a marvellous outcome for so many schools in South Australia, the Liberal opposition continues to oppose it.

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