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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-02-04 Daily Xml
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Public Works Committee: Renmark High School Redevelopment

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:34): I move:

That the 77th report of the committee for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament, entitled Renmark High School Redevelopment Project, be noted.

Mr Deputy Speaker, as you will be aware, established in 1925, Renmark High School serves the local Renmark-Paringa communities. The high school requires capital works in order to support the expected future growth and student enrolment numbers, including the transition of year 7 students to high school in 2022. The current school site also has aged relocatable accommodation requiring demolition. The school was allocated funding of $5 million as part of the Department for Education's capital works program.

The proposed scope of the high school redevelopment project includes a major refurbishment extending to the existing administration complex, refurbishment of the existing student services facility to create a new student services office, a librarian office and library reception desk, refurbishment of the existing administration facilities to create new creative teaching spaces and offices and refurbishment of the existing office facility overall.

The scope of works will also include services upgrades to existing buildings, such as new air conditioning, lighting, ceiling replacement and landscaping to the school entry area, ancillary to the works that are being undertaken overall. When complete, the Renmark High School redevelopment project will accommodate 680 students, including year 7 students, as earlier observed. The Renmark High School redevelopment project will be staged, with construction expected to be completed by June 2021.

The committee examined written evidence in relation to the project and received assurances that the appropriate consultation in relation to this project had been undertaken. The committee is satisfied that the project does meet the criteria for the examination of projects as described in the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991. Having regard to the evidence considered and pursuant to section 12C of the act earlier mentioned, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it does recommend the proposed scope of public works I have described.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:36): I would like to rise to make a small contribution. Renmark High School is one of the high schools in the Riverland, and I am very, very proud that one of my children attended there for a couple of years before heading down to Adelaide to finish his schooling career. Renmark High School is a very proud school located close to the banks of the beautiful River Murray. It has students from very diverse cultural backgrounds and walks of life and they have been very well regarded in terms of their academic and sporting achievements.

Over time, I have been very proud to be a part of that school community, whether it is helping to coach sporting teams or whether it is giving support to athletics. In 2019, I was proud to be invited to officially open the new state-of-the-art STEM facility. I thank the Minister for Education for asking me to do that because it gave me an opportunity to reconnect with that school and continue to foster the good relationship with the principal, Mat Evans. I think Mat is doing an outstanding job.

We must acknowledge the Marshall Liberal government for its foresight and its support for all of the education system in South Australia and, importantly, the regions. The regions have been reborn within education, to see the upgrades of our schools through different programs, not only the STEM facility but all the upgrades, the opportunities that the schools now have with a government that is looking to govern for all of the education system right around the state.

The new development is a $5 million upgrade, with 26 trades involved, and it comes with a lot of beautification upgrades, whether it be fixtures and fittings, and the school is very much appreciative. It gives them the opportunity not only to put some beautification in there but to give a little more ownership of that school to the students and make it a better learning institution. The school is obviously getting ready for the transition of year 7 into high school by 2022, and everyone is on board. There are a number of schools in the Renmark area, approximately six schools, that feed into Renmark High School.

The new student services reception and offices, the creative learning classrooms, the counselling offices and the breakout spaces are part of the upgrade. Minister Gardner and I have visited Renmark High School to have a look at those upgrades. The teachers, the students and the Renmark community are very proud of the school. It is one of the great learning beacons in the area.

The refurbishment of the home economics classroom and the physical education offices, the new mechanical extraction system in the tech studies area, the replacement of air conditioning in a number of the buildings and asbestos removal are all part of upgrading some of the ageing infrastructure. This is a clear indication of the government's commitment to the long-term future of our regional schools and education.

I thank the school community as a whole for their patience and flexibility. I thank the minister for his foresight in supporting Renmark High School and I wish all the students a good learning year, particularly in these uncertain times.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (11:41): It is a great pleasure to be able to talk about the project that is underway at Renmark High School. I am very much looking forward to visiting Renmark, and hope that I will have the opportunity later this year, hopefully in term 3, to join the member for Chaffey to formally open these fantastic new facilities, which I know the member has been calling for since his election in 2010, which was the same time as my election.

I remember his interest at that time, and for a number of years he has been pushing for it. We were grateful when the former government had this school on the list of schools that had that initial influx of capital works money in 2017. Since then, we have substantially added to that list, but this is a project that was clearly very much needed and we are pleased to be delivering it. I commend the staff at Renmark High School and the school governing council, which the member for Chaffey and I were very pleased to engage with when we were there in July, and I know he does so on a regular basis. They were very excited about the enhancements, the improvements.

One of the key things that I recall a number of teachers and students reflected on was the entrance to the school, which is currently in a state that does not show the school necessarily in its best light to people who are coming in. The way the new entrance is going to be shifted, designed and landscaped is really going to show off the pride in public education that the people in Renmark and the Riverland have in that school and really show off the school in its best light.

The students we engaged with were optimistic about their future. Great teaching and learning go on at this school, and the enhancement to the facilities will make that work easier. To principal Mathew Evans, to Brett Julian Architect and to the builder, Big River Developments, thank you for that work that is being undertaken.

I will not go through all the details of the building works—I think the casual reader of Hansard is welcome to go through the member for Chaffey's remarks, which I was listening to and which were an outstanding summary; I am sure the member for Kavel's were as well—other than to say that I am really pleased that this work is underway. It is part of the Marshall Liberal government's $1.3 billion work in the infrastructure in schools space. It is providing lots of jobs and enhancing educational facilities around South Australia. When this work is complete, the confidence the people of Renmark have in this school will only be enhanced.

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:44): I acknowledge and thank the member for Chaffey and also the minister, the member for Morialta, for their contribution. The member for Chaffey has been a passionate and determined advocate for this school community for many, many years—in fact, since before his election. It is right to observe that his son was at the school for a time, that he was coaching, that he has strong interests in athletics and other community sports, and that he has built a very important and lasting connection to this school community.

Now as the member for Chaffey, he has been able to bring to bear his good knowledge and judgement in relation to the school's needs and to see through not only a STEM upgrade but the works that, in the course of the remarks this morning, we have described to the house. I know that he has been working very closely with the school governing council and the principal, Mat Evans. It is right to acknowledge their passion and commitment for their school community and their detailed and effective advocacy in ensuring that the needs of the school community have been met, as demonstrated by the public works that are now being committed to and seen through by the minister.

Can I emphasise, too, and amplify the remarks of the member for Chaffey in relation to this government's commitment to public education in the regions. A school community is an essential part of a wider country community. It is not the only institution in country communities, but a school is an incredibly valuable institution.

Well outside the scope of education, that institution helps bind that community together and provides a meeting place and a place for community to build and for community sport. Of course, at times of crisis, it is a place to meet as well—for instance, in the course of bushfires or at times of other need. When there are visiting government agencies and other needs to bring communities together, it is often the school hall or school facilities that are used to ensure that can take place.

I want to place on record my thanks as Presiding Member of the Public Works Committee to the member for Chaffey for his commitment to seeing this project through and his commitment to his community more widely. I also acknowledge the vision, passion and commitment of the minister, who has had an extraordinary task in the life of this parliament to see through a very substantial capital works program for public education in South Australia. We are very appreciative.

Motion carried.

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