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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-06-09 Daily Xml
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Schools, Capacity Projections

Mr BOYER (Wright) (14:22): My question is again to the Minister for Education. Can the minister advise the house what the capacity projections are for the Adelaide Botanic High School and Adelaide High School in 2022?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:22): I thank the member for the question. I don't have the exact detail here but I recall it being provided to the member by FOI, I think, not that long ago. My recollection is that—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —the capacity challenges there were in the order of a bit under 100 over the identified capacity. This is, of course, not including all the capacity increase that is on track to be delivered by the beginning of next year, both as a result of the significant commitment of around $20 million to expand Adelaide High School and other measures that were referenced in the very article that Kyam Maher referred to in the Budget and Finance Committee where the chief executive talked about some of the options that were available.

The advice that I have received from the department is that next year we expect there to be sufficient capacity at Adelaide High and Adelaide Botanic High for 2022 to manage those students. Obviously, there are fewer international students there next year than there have been at different times in the past. Obviously, there is more capacity there next year than there has been at different times in the past. There is a capacity challenge in this area; we don't deny it, and indeed the Department for Education is assiduously doing the work to identify the challenges, identify mitigation strategies and identify advice to government about how we deal with that, as they do around South Australia.

If only the former government in their 16 years had done the work to move year 7 to high school at a time when there wasn't a population bubble in the public school system, both as a result of urban infill in certain areas—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: The member for Lee asks, 'Is it all Labor's fault?' The answer is: well, a lot of it is.

The SPEAKER: The minister will not respond to interjection.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: A lot of it, because don't forget that Labor argued against the Adelaide Botanic High School's existence—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —for six years. I remember campaigning with the member for Adelaide in 2008, 2009 and 2010 for a second Adelaide high school. Those opposite said it was ridiculous. Labor is now talking about potentially the need for a third Adelaide high school. Up until very recently, Labor's argument was there should be one—only one. And if they had agreed earlier—don't forget, we—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —still don't have year 12s at Adelaide Botanic High School.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Deputy Premier!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: We still don't have year 12s at Adelaide Botanic High School. It is a couple of years away before we have that graduation to enjoy. Those capacity challenges would be easier right now had Labor done this work earlier; they didn't. They didn't have effective demographic modelling.

When we were modelling the infrastructure requirements needed to deal with both the move of year 7 into high school and the population growth in our public school system, which led to a couple of hundred million dollars worth of further announcements in early 2019, it was very clear that Labor hadn't done demographic modelling across South Australia—not just in the city, but across South Australia and across metropolitan Adelaide.

A number of the investment decisions that this government has had to make to deal with the growth in our high school capacities hasn't just been to do with year 7s being moved into high school; it has been to do with the growth in high school projected for the year 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s and 12s as well.

The former Labor Party government made a number of infrastructure investments into schools over its time in government. They expanded Adelaide and Marryatville and Brighton and a couple of other schools after the 2014 election. They were going to build a big new high school in Magill but then changed their mind. In 2017, they identified $692 million worth of projects—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —and, on the eve of the election, they committed to building a new school in Aldinga, a new school in Angle Vale and, finally, after 16 years, a new school in Whyalla. This government has in fact dramatically increased the investment. Not only are we delivering on all of Labor's promises but we have substantially expanded them. A record $1.3 billion in education investment—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the leader!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —and I will give the hot tip to the member for Wright and those in the opposition: there's more to come, and there needs to be—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —because Labor left public education in South Australia less well off than it deserved to be, and our children and our young people deserve nothing less than world class. That's what this government is delivering.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for Newland, I warn the member for Lee, I warn the Deputy Premier, I call to order the leader.

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