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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-09-11 Daily Xml
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School Internet Service

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (14:38): My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister update the house on the government's rollout of improved internet services for schools?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:39): I am very grateful to the member for Flinders for this very sensible question and appreciate the support that he gives to the very many schools across his electorate, serving a large regional community with very many schools in that community. Many of those schools, of course, are amongst the many South Australian schools that had no high-speed internet when we came to government in March last year. Indeed, fewer than a quarter of South Australian schools had fibre-optic internet connections. This was the lowest in the mainland.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: that is debate.

The SPEAKER: The point of order is for debate.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: That is debate, sir. That is introducing facts, sir.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of—

The Hon. S.S. Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: the Premier has lost control of himself. The Premier is interjecting, sir.

The SPEAKER: If ministers want to carry on like that, I have no hesitation in ejecting them to restore decorum to the house. The member for West Torrens has raised a point of order. He is entitled to raise that point of order. At this stage, I don't believe he is engaging in debate, but I will listen carefully and, if he does, I will pull him up. If the member for West Torrens continues to carry on the way he does, he will be leaving.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: And the Premier?

The SPEAKER: And anyone else.

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Yes, I'm well aware of what he is doing and he's about to leave. Minister.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: I thank the member for Flinders, as I said, for asking this very sensible question. As per the standing orders of the parliament, I'm very pleased to provide, as standing order 98 requires, some facts about the way the rollout of school internet services is being improved across South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: There is a significant improvement that is required because on coming to government we had fewer than one in four of our schools connected to our high-speed fibre-optic internet. This is something that our schools need and this is something that our government is seeking to deliver. Through an $80 million investment, partnering with Telstra, we are delivering high-speed fibre-optic internet connections to more than 500 schools right across South Australia from Port Lincoln to Elliston to Poonindie to Karcultaby, across the electorate of Flinders.

Indeed, just in the last week, we have had, in the member for Flinders' electorate, four connections: Port Lincoln High School, Port Lincoln Primary School, Port Lincoln Junior Primary—our last junior primary school in the state—and, right at the moment, Kirton Point Primary School is being finalised. Throughout the rest of term 3, we will see connection at Elliston Area School and the Poonindie Community Learning Centre and, before the end of the year, Lincoln Gardens Primary School, Port Lincoln Special School and Karcultaby Area School.

They will join the more than 220 schools that have been connected. Forty-one per cent of schools across South Australia have been connected to the new swift high-speed internet connection which this government has rolled out since the end of last year and which we are very proud of, and 115,000 of our students have been connected to high-speed internet access. More than 13,000 of our teachers and educators are now connected to high-speed internet and that transforms what can be done in the classroom.

Prior to the commencement of this program, which is a Marshall Liberal government program of which we are very proud, schools were not able to rely on the internet necessarily. If they didn't have high-speed connection, they weren't able to rely on the internet not dropping out if another classroom next door potentially started using the internet as well. They weren't able to integrate the use of high-speed internet into the curriculum. They weren't able to integrate the use of high-speed internet, which is particularly important in regional areas, into professional development opportunities for their teachers.

We made this an election commitment because we had the worst internet services for schools on the mainland, and that is why those opposite, after 16 years, admitted that they had failed the people of South Australia and failed the schools of South Australia and they, too, committed to it. But was there money in the budget? They thought there was money in the budget, according to the deputy leader.

What they promised was that they were going to use whatever the best technology was, whether that is the NBN or maybe wireless or potentially cable, and they were going to use money from part of a federal agreement that they hadn't signed up to. That was what they offered. We have actually delivered the program. More than half of our students are connected and it's a great story—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —funded and happening on time and on budget.

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