Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about a travesty of good education in my electorate of Cowan. Specifically, I would today like to talk about the Blackmore Primary School, in the suburb of Girrawheen. Blackmore is one of four primary schools in Girrawheen. It is the third biggest in student numbers, with over 200 students. It also has more classrooms and a very sound academic record—award winning, in some cases. In August 2007 the school community, a proud and effective community, were informed that following consultation their school was to be closed, the land sold and students integrated into another primary school in Girrawheen, the Girrawheen Primary School. As with any school community with spirit, there was always going to be resistance to the closure. The trouble with this whole situation was that there was no actual consultation with the parent community of Blackmore. Parents were not brought into the discussions, and the announcement of the closure came as a surprise to both the parents and the teachers of not only Blackmore but all the local schools.

In putting this sorry situation into context it is worthy of mentioning why the parents and teachers at Blackmore and the teachers at other local schools were so greatly surprised. That was because everyone believed that phase 1 of this plan of rationalisation with Girrawheen was merely going to involve the closure of Hainsworth Primary School and the integration of the Hainsworth and Montrose primary schools onto the Montrose site, although under a new name. So it was the case that Blackmore Primary School was not intended to be part of phase 1. If phase 1 had been implemented in the original plan, the plan that most people in Girrawheen seemed to know about, it would have left three primary schools—one in the east, Montrose; one in the centre, Girrawheen; and one in the west, Blackmore. However, the announcement by the state Labor government of the closure of Hainsworth and Blackmore came as an unwelcome surprise. There followed a quickly convened meeting of parents with education department representatives and the state Labor MP for the area. This meeting quickly revealed that all the good points for keeping Blackmore had never been considered. Within two weeks over 900 parents and other supporters of Blackmore Primary School signed a petition supporting the school’s retention. However, that fell on deaf ears and the reasoned case we put forward for retaining the school was rejected.

Another question was also asked by the P&C about the necessity for consultation to occur. But what they were told was, ‘The school’s going to be closed now, but we’ll conduct some consultation right now’—even though the decision was made. Unfortunately, there was yet another tragic episode in this betrayal of the good people of Girrawheen. A P&C representative went to the state parliament to plead the case directly with the minister. However, before the minister appeared, the state Labor MP for Girrawheen accused the P&C of disloyalty by their asking for my support, as a Liberal. I understand that the state MP was aghast that the people of Girrawheen did not just roll over, because it was a Labor decision, affecting people in a suburb that traditionally supported Labor. That was the main issue. On 13 September 2007 I worked with parents to hold a public meeting to further highlight the error of the decision. At that meeting the people’s views were heard and they loudly booed the state MP. Later the minister even accused me, under privilege in the state assembly, of using children for political purposes by giving them signs saying, ‘Save Blackmore Primary’. That was not actually the case; that was all done by the parents. They were fighting for a cause, and they refused to be bullied into just accepting it.

The current situation is that the state Labor government is committed to closing the school and selling the land for upwards of $17 million. The closure will take away the only school in the west of Girrawheen. It will require children to walk as far as 1,500 metres to the nearest school. As a parent of children who attend a small local state primary school—it is quite similar to Blackmore—I know how it would feel if the state government tried to close my school. This is why I am actively opposing this decision. Blackmore is not just a place on a map that is worth $17.7 million; it is a future for our children—our greatest asset. This is about making sure that a school is retained in the west of Girrawheen and that it is given the resources it requires. It is an important amenity for the area— (Time expired)