Laura Smyth (La Trobe, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The credentials and the commitment of this government in the areas of education and health reform and in education and health policy are well known. It pleases me very much to be able to update members on education and health matters, particularly on developments in my electorate of La Trobe.

I was very pleased last week to visit Hillcrest Christian College in Berwick to participate in their senior school’s awards night and the opening of their Building the Education Revolution project. Hillcrest has, as a result of the BER program, a new performing arts theatre. The BER initiative meant that the theatre, which was part of the college’s master plan, was brought forward by three years. It is a facility which will have a tremendous amount of use and give students enjoyment, skills and a creative outlet through which to show their talents. I understand that there is already considerable interest from the broader community in using Hillcrest’s new facility. It is marvellous to see a school which is so willing to continue sharing its resources in what is very much a growing community in La Trobe. Of course, this very much reflects the spirit of the BER program in terms of community engagement. I was fortunate to also visit the school earlier this year to talk to the year 12 politics students. I have been impressed by the maturity and thoughtfulness of the school’s students.

I also had the pleasure of visiting the Belgrave South Primary School and Emerald Secondary College in the roughly 10 weeks since being formally elected as member for La Trobe. I think it is extremely important in this role to engage with students in civic education, because it is so significant in the strengthening of our community and our democratic processes. It is for this reason that I have instituted the La Trobe Leadership and Community Involvement Award in schools throughout my electorate. Over 40 schools have so far taken up the opportunity to participate in the inaugural award, which aims to recognise students who have demonstrated a commitment to civic life, community involvement and leadership.

The first recipient of the award was Sophie Wieckmann. The Hillcrest school has advised me that Sophie has organised numerous fundraising events and has assisted in the wider community in making several important and selfless contributions, which is admirable for someone of her age. She was involved in a mission trip to Uganda to work with disadvantaged children in hospitals and orphanages. She has also been involved in the 40 Hour Famine and the MS Readathon and was the youngest competitor to take part in the Sydney 100-kilometre Oxfam walk, raising over $5,000 with her team earlier this year. During the next month I will be visiting each of the schools to meet with award recipients, who I hope will want to become even more actively involved in our local communities. I recently mentioned in this place my visits to Saint Thomas More Primary School, Kallista Primary School, Harkaway Primary School and Mount Dandenong Preschool. I was also pleased to meet with students of Ferntree Gully North Primary School and Saint Catherine’s Primary School in Berwick in recent weeks.

I have been assisting schools in my area that have raised issues with me, and I will continue to assist others as the needs arise. Therefore it is somewhat disappointing that the shadow minister for climate action, environment and heritage last Wednesday in the House sought to misrepresent me to the chamber. He remarked that I had refused to visit a primary school in my electorate that had raised an issue with my office. This is not true, and a simple inquiry with the school and its principal would readily reveal that. I have at no stage declined an invitation to attend the school, and I will gladly do what I can to assist them.

In circumstances where this government, in its first term, nearly doubled the education funding committed by the Howard government in its last term, in circumstances where we are committed to enabling disadvantaged schools and disadvantaged students to have better opportunities to succeed, in circumstances where we have committed ourselves to a comprehensive national curriculum and considering the educational decay of the Howard years, I find it somewhat disingenuous that the shadow minister for climate action, environment and heritage should talk of an absence of adequate support for schools.

The second important matter about which I am extremely pleased is the announcement by the Minister for Health and Ageing of the first round of Primary Care Infrastructure Grants. These grants stand to benefit three local GP clinics in La Trobe: Belgrave Medical Clinic, Mandala Clinic at Emerald and the Hills Medical Clinic in Olinda. I know just how hard our local GPs work to ensure that our local community gets the best possible health care available, and I know that the primary care infrastructure grants will go a long way in assisting them with that aim.

In particular, I would like to mention Dr Dennis Gration, of the Belgrave Medical Clinic, who has had an impressive and longstanding commitment to the training of new GPs and healthcare professionals and a determined and passionate focus on community health. In the final hours of this session of parliament, it pleases me greatly to be able to remark on the considerable commitments to my electorate that this government has made in the key areas of health and education.