Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak of the wonderful new and refurbished facilities that I have in my electorate of Bass, all because of the Labor government’s investment in school infrastructure through the Building the Education Revolution program. The Labor government has committed to the biggest investment in our schools in Australian history. Every school across the nation has benefited from this long-overdue infrastructure investment.

The aim of Building of the Education Revolution was to save jobs, and provide infrastructure for our future and for our children, during the global financial crisis. This program is delivering vital infrastructure to school communities and is supporting communities by providing employment. A number of end-of-school assemblies and functions I attended were in lovely new halls and buildings, courtesy of the Building the Education Revolution program and other Labor government programs. These programs have benefited students and also wider communities. The new infrastructure provides a venue that can be used both inside and outside school buildings.

When I was on the Parents and Friends at Riverside Primary School, we built a small hall that was never able to cater for the entire population of the school. Now they have a new school hall which is fantastic. Since becoming the member for Bass I have visited and witnessed firsthand a number of new facilities, and the look of delight on students’ and parents’ faces when they enter these buildings is fantastic. Some of these schools have not had any money spent on them for decades, and they are thrilled to now have the infrastructure they deserve.

Schools that I have visited since becoming the federal member for Bass and that have received funding include: Ravenswood Heights Primary School, over $2 million; Ringarooma Primary School, and the Launceston Christian School, over $3 million; Port Dalrymple School, over $2 million; and Mowbray Heights Primary School, $3.2 million. The John Calvin School and the Trevallyn Primary School have now created inspirational learning spaces. I am also going to attend facility openings at Newstead College, Queechy High School, Brooks High School, St Leonards Primary School, Norwood Primary School, St Patrick’s College and Scottsdale High School.

The most important thing is not the bricks and mortar; it is what happens inside these facilities that counts. These facilities are assisting in giving our children, as every child should have, the rights to a good education and to reach their full potential. Those opposite me have for many years neglected school infrastructure, and yet they had the nerve to vote against and oppose every step of the way the program that has allowed these schools to have the infrastructure that students and school communities so richly deserve. They should be ashamed of themselves. I would like to express my strong support for the Building the Education Revolution program. The results say it all: it is an investment in our future and the future of our children and our children’s children.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! In accordance with standing order 193 the time for members’ constituency statements has concluded.