Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Thursday last week I had the great pleasure of attending the official opening of a new purpose built classroom at Avoca Public School in the Southern Highlands, a part of my electorate. One of the great privileges of being a member of parliament is the opportunity to attend wonderful events such as this. Avoca Public School was established in 1872. The original stone building still stands on the site. It is on the top of the hill. It is one of the central features of the village. It is a landmark. It is now used as a library for the school.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the entire school community, the parents and friends association and in particular the school principal, Ms Janine Hopwood, as well as teacher Serena Morgan and the school assistant, Sally O’Dwyer. It is a two-teacher school. They do a fantastic job. There is a wonderful sense of community within that school. I also had the great pleasure of meeting newly minted school captains Olivia Yearsley and Sean Young and numerous other representatives of the student body.

The school principal, Ms Hopwood; school staff; parents; and tradespeople have worked hard to deliver on this important project. What they have managed to do with support from the federal government is to remove from the site a building that has been described by them as mouldy, ratty, smelly and something that the kids hated to go into and replace it with a purpose built classroom. It is a fantastic outcome. I would like to recognise the work of everybody who has been involved in the project.

Now that the project has been completed, teachers and students will be able to enjoy teaching and learning in 21st century facilities that sometimes are not enjoyed by children and school communities in regional Australia—facilities that they richly deserve. The public school at Avoca received $351,000 under the National School Pride program and Primary Schools for the 21st Century element of the Australian government’s BER program. It is well known in this place that the program was a key part of the government’s $42 billion economic stimulus plan, a plan designed to keep Australians in work and our economy out of recession. In particular, it was designed to ensure that the construction industry remained vibrant throughout the global financial crisis. While at the ceremony I had the great pleasure of meeting Mr Keith Jackson, who had celebrated his 80th birthday that week. Mr Jackson’s family and the family of his wife have lived in the region for over 100 years. He attended Avoca school. It is a testament to the community spirit that he turned up to an event such as this.