HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-04-02 Daily Xml
Contents
Xml

Morialta Secondary College

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta) (15:32): It is a privilege to be able to today reflect on the great growth and achievement at Morialta Secondary College in my electorate. A couple of weeks ago, since the parliament last sat, I was pleased to visit Morialta Secondary College with Scott Kennedy, the Liberal candidate for Morialta, on their open day. At that open day we were able to engage with staff and with students thriving.

We are now up to year 7, 8 and 9 students at Morialta Secondary College, open for just over two years. We saw students thriving in Italian classes, students thriving with the VR and tech facilities, and playing volleyball and sport. There has been significant progress in food technology and indeed in music. I highlight and congratulate Tim Moore and the performing arts team at Morialta Secondary College. More than 60 per cent of the students at Morialta Secondary College are now studying a musical instrument as part of their studies, and they are doing their inaugural high school musical at Norwood Town Hall next term. They are performing High School Musical.

Morialta Secondary College's leadership team, led by principal, Roley Coulter; deputy principal, Tahlia Harman; assistant principals Emily Carter and Sean Venning; and business leader, probably the true boss in many ways, Ibi Kanellos, are doing an outstanding job. This is a school that was opened, as I said, just over two years ago and is already at capacity in each of the year levels, attracting 200 students a year, as we knew it would, because of course there is that demand in the area.

I highlight this because every time this issue comes up in question time Labor's Treasurer suggests, quite critically of the former government and me in particular as the member for Morialta, that this school was built quite conveniently in the electorate of the former education minister, as if it was not fully endorsed by the department, led by the now chief executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, and as if it was not fully endorsed by the Infrastructure South Australia organisation, having gone through every hoop in the most appropriate possible way.

I highlight the history. In 2017, when the former Labor government announced that there was going to be $30 million of funding to combine the two campuses of Norwood Morialta High School at the Magill site, they did not mention at that time one word that that was going to be half-funded by the sale of the Rostrevor site, the Norwood Morialta middle school campus. In fact, prior to the 2018 election, my constituents had no knowledge that Labor's secret plan was to, in fact, have a high-density housing development at that Rostrevor campus.

It was only when I found that out as education minister in my early briefings that we were able to, first, put on hold that sale—and I want to thank Premier Steven Marshall of the time and, indeed, his Chief of Staff, James Stevens, for helping me convince Rob Lucas, the Treasurer of South Australia and not a man known for his lack of frugality, that we did indeed need to put that $15 million debt to Treasury on hold. That was very important because it enabled us to have time to explore what the local area needed, and what we found was that demand for high school places was significant and more than justified a new high school.

We also did a cost-benefit analysis identifying whether we should repurpose the existing middle school campus or knock down and build afresh, and what that found was that there was not going to be much difference. So badly rundown had 16 years of Labor government allowed the Rostrevor campus to be, that there was no point in trying to save those buildings. It was almost going to be as expensive to try to save some buildings and build some new buildings, and over 20 years the cost to taxpayers would be much more.

So that is why we have a fully new school there. It is entirely appropriate and entirely in the taxpayers of South Australia's best interests. My local residents in the Morialta area—particularly those living in the zone, whether in Rostrevor or Woodforde or Magill, or those further afield who are now able to go there because of the increased availability of places—are very appreciative.

I want to highlight the great work being done also by some of the other senior leaders: Aija Mee for maths and science, and Tanja Gehren in English and HASS and her great work in the Hear My Voice project, along with that of the original DP, Sarah Chambers. I would like to conclude my time by thanking those parents and volunteers who are serving on the governing council, on which I am privileged to join them: Chair Karlie Hutchens, Tim Donhardt, Mary Stovell, Joanne Kirby, Norelle Branford, Andrew Exley, Chloe Simpson, Renette Grubb and Maja Kruger. The work they are doing, the work that the staff are doing, is producing excellent results. This is a group of students with the first graduating class coming out in about 3½ years and I cannot wait to see what they achieve in the years to come.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT