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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-10-13 Daily Xml
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School Infrastructure Projects

Mrs POWER (Elder) (14:16): 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, schools and preschools across South Australia and in my wonderful electorate of Elder?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:16): I thank the member for Elder for this important question. It has been a joy to travel around her community over the last 3½ years with her, visiting schools and preschools over the years, as it has been across South Australia because, of course, this is a government that is investing in education. The national school partnership reform agreement saw this state government commit an extra $700 million and more in the decade to come and beyond in order to unlock billions of dollars of commonwealth money in recurrent funding.

In terms of capital spend, I recall congratulating the former Labor government when they committed to a $692 million program of works. That was good and we are delivering on that program, and we have indeed increased it to a $1.4 billion investment being delivered by our government in our public schools alone. It is an exceptional investment, it is a record investment, it is a sign of this government's commitment to education as not just indeed a service provided to our communities but an enabler of growth for students to achieve whatever they want in the world.

A world-class education system is one in which all students, no matter what town or suburb they live in, whatever classroom or kindy they are in, are supported to be their best, to fulfil their potential in life, to be successful at whatever they are passionate about. Indeed, in schools servicing the member for Elder's electorate, that investment is very significant indeed.

At Hamilton Secondary College, in excess of $9 million is going towards supporting a revamped performing arts space, including South Australia's second only planetarium, which is our first school-based planetarium. There are not too many planetariums around. That will support the unique value proposition that Hamilton Secondary College has to provide to students living in not just the member for Elder's area but, indeed, in the broader area, being able to support their space program, taking it to entirely the next level and enabling our students to have a pathway to the extraordinary jobs of the future that are enabled by Premier Steven Marshall bringing the Australian Space Agency to South Australia, bringing the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre to South Australia and bringing the space industry in massive amounts to South Australia.

Of course, the member for Elder would be aware that there is a $10 million redevelopment at Springbank Secondary College, where concept plans have now been released. This was a redevelopment that under the previous government was contingent on a business model that was never fully fulfilled. When we looked into that and reviewed it—and I note that the member for Badcoe asked at the time; the member for Badcoe at the time was arguing for a shared zone with Springbank and Unley so that people who wanted to go to Unley could apply but wouldn't be guaranteed—our response instead was to make the school zone for Unley High School to take in the whole of the Springbank zone so that Springbank is now an unzoned school able to focus on what its focus areas are rather than trying to be a local comprehensive.

Unley is now the guaranteed school available for all the students living in the member for Elder's area who wanted to go to that school, much better than the member for Badcoe's plan, where they go into a pool to be chosen between Unley and Springbank. The member for Elder has indeed delivered that for Unley and at Unley. We are delivering a $30 million upgrade, a $32 million upgrade, well in excess of anything promised by those opposite at any point, an upgrade that has a three-storey building that will deliver fantastic new learning spaces in home economics, technology, arts, science, classrooms, a three-storey building where even though the top level is not yet complete there are already classes going on in there. It is a fantastic learning space.

Indeed, right across the primary schools and preschools, every single one of those preschools and primary schools in the public system is getting investment by the government. I also want to finish by highlighting the contribution of already in excess of $200,000 to the Suneden Specialist School as well under our new non-government schools funding program, and they will do even better this year. The kids at Suneden deserve nothing less.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is warned now for a second time.

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