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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-07-23 Daily Xml
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School Maintenance Program

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:18): My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister update the house on how the government's $32 million accelerated maintenance program—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: The interview continues.

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton, sorry, I didn't hear the start of that. Member for West Torrens, you are warned. Can I have the question again?

Mr COWDREY: From the beginning, sir?

The SPEAKER: Yes.

Mr COWDREY: My question is to the Minister for Education. Can he update the house on how the government's $32 million accelerated maintenance program has been received by schools, preschools and others in the community, and how does the minister respond to claims that the funding should have been allocated differently?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:18): I thank the member for this question very much. Members of the house would be aware, in many cases, that this government has allocated $7.6 million to a maintenance program for preschools that sees every government preschool in South Australia get a grant of $20,000 that they can spend this year on urgent maintenance works: painting, flooring, landscape, kitchen upgrades, storage replacements and shade structures.

I have visited a number of preschools in recent weeks, as I know many members of the government have who have seen the extreme joy on the faces of preschool directors, parents and governing councils to see that work rolled out, and the tradies and the small businesses who are doing that work at a time when they need it most. The government has also allocated $25 million this year to an accelerated maintenance program for schools over and above the usual program.

Schools have an opportunity to do maintenance works with their own budgets. Then, if there are works that are important to do over and above what they can do themselves, there is a process whereby they get support every year, and there's in the order of $10 million, $12 million, $13 million every year for that maintenance program support from head office. This year, we have put in an extra $25 million, which has seen priority maintenance work at 116 schools, including structural repairs, roof sealing and gutters, bitumen, paving, external painting, floor coverings, air conditioning.

Schools were chosen for the program based on an assessment of existing asset performance assessments prepared and submitted by facilities managers and also required works identified from site visits undertaken by departmental staff. Asset performance assessments are an assessment of a particular asset or infrastructure that identifies its condition, the likelihood of failure and the consequences of its failing. Proposed projects were also cross-referenced against existing capital works projects to ensure they were not affected by these proposed works.

Maintenance programs have been approved within the department at the senior executive level in the past. They will continue to be in the future, in line with existing delegations. For the absolute clarity of the house, the only instruction I have ever given the department in relation to these matters is to do the work, make the decisions based on the needs of the schools without any political consideration or involvement at all, and I have reiterated that to them in recent times. A school's geographical location did not and does not form part of that selection process.

I have had to reiterate it, of course, because a claim has been made by the member for Wright that that is not the way we go about it. Indeed, he suggested that in relation to our maintenance and our infrastructure decisions there might be political interference. I make it very clear to the house that whatever was the case when they were in government, and when the member for Wright was an adviser in the former minister for education's office, that is not the way we do things now. If it assists the house—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —if the member for Wright and those opposite think that infrastructure and maintenance should be given—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: this is not compare and contrast. This is debate, sir.

The SPEAKER: A point of order on the point of order.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: It's directly related to the question.

The SPEAKER: I am listening carefully. I have the point of order and I am taking it on board.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: If it assists the house—

The SPEAKER: Yes.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —our maintenance and infrastructure budget includes $1.3 billion worth of programs, of which $690,934,000 is in seats held by the Labor Party, $489,755,000 is in seats held by the Liberal Party and $114 million is in seats held by the four Independents. If the Labor Party would like us to assign these values based on the seats that are held by parties, then which $200 million worth of programs in your seats do you want to remove? At the moment, we assign the values where the schools need to work and we will continue to do so.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order: Mr Speaker, I'm not sure which projects you should be demanding to cancel. I thought that was out of order.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I remind the Minister for Education to direct his remarks through the Chair.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, before we move on, the minister was quoting from a table, and I wonder if he could table it before the house.

The SPEAKER: I don't believe he was, but I will check the footage from 2.23 or 2.22, and if he was I will make sure that I do something about it. I was a little bit harsh on the leader, and I would like to give him a few questions now if he is ready.

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