Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Wannon laughs and we know how unhappy he is to see that investment in his electorate. He is so ashamed of it, which is really an embarrassment and an indictment of him. Can you imagine if the coalition was in government and cut the BER? Education would probably go back that 20 or 30 years. Schools would end up looking like a fort out of F-Troop.

I have many fantastic catholic and independent schools in my electorate and many I have recently visited as part of the BER, schools that have praised the government’s BER program. When you stand there and feel their excitement it truly makes you proud to be part of a government that makes a genuine difference to the education of our children. I take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister and the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth for their support of education in my electorate. The principals and students of schools like Eltham College, Plenty Valley Christian College and Ivanhoe Grammar School in Mernda have also asked me to extend their thanks. I recently attended a BER project at Eltham College for the junior campus extension. I will read out a speech by student Kathryn Clarke. She said:

In early January 1999, I arrived to start my first day of school, walking in excited and ready for a new experience. The day I began I made my first walk up the long path towards the prep house. It had such a homely feel, instantly welcoming. 13 years later I stand before you with the honour of being part of this opening at Eltham, part of yet another year and a new beginning.

I’ll admit to you I was somewhat nervous you could say about seeing the building finished and ready when we had a look recently with Jodie. But the moment we walked in it had that same feeling, that immediate warmth that makes our school special as it is still today.

This isn’t just another building with 4 walls and a roof; it’s a place where futures will begin, where the next college captains will have their first day at school.

So I’d like to personally welcome each and every one of you to this new place, as it will become a part of our community as much as every other part of our school.

It is exciting!

Our school on a whole has put so much into this development though we couldn’t have done it without the support of our current government led by Julia Gillard, who financially assisted in a very large way towards this build, so thank you.

Enjoy the change, embrace the development and I hope you will be able to feel as at home in this new space as I know we do, already.

That was a fantastic speech by a student about the children and young adults whose education and lives will benefit from the BER and our ongoing investment in their education. Eltham College is a fine example of what can be achieved in our independent schools. The staff and students are doing great work. Also, one of their key projects is eliminating homophobia, racism and prejudice. The principal, David Warner, said last year when launching the program:

Any school will have elements of homophobia but it is much easier to deal with in our culture.

We are not about putting people in boxes and our community needs to accept that behaviour such as harassment and homophobia is not acceptable.”

I commend David Warner and the staff at Eltham College for their great work in stamping out discrimination through education, which in my opinion is the best way to do it. It was fantastic to tour the junior campus with students Riley, Milly and Eliza. These young kids did a great job, proudly walking me through their school, informing me of what they were learning and what projects they had been undertaking. The confidence and level of knowledge they have about their school and education was incredible, and I formally thank them here in this House for the great work they did. I am pleased to report to the Prime Minister that Riley is a Western Bulldogs supporter, much to my dismay! I also acknowledge the college captains, Caitlin, Cummane and Daniel Patrick, for taking part in the celebration of the new building.

Mr Deputy Speaker, you could sit here and listen to the rhetoric and negativity we get from the opposition when they talk about how the BER is a waste and how it would be scrapped if they get into government, but remember that one of the key problems we see with BER is a skills shortage that was a legacy of 12 years of the Howard government. It is a skills shortage that we know is going to take a long time to rectify.

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