Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 18 February I was pleased to welcome to Deakin His Excellency Sir Peter Cosgrove, along with his wife, Lady Cosgrove, and the Most Reverend Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr Philip Freier, for the official opening and dedication ceremony of Yarra Valley Grammar school's recently completed science and maths building. Yarra Valley Grammar is very well known in my electorate of Deakin. It is a vibrant, independent Christian college that caters to students from early learning to year 12.

The new science and maths facility will replace the old science block, which was tragically destroyed by an electrical fire one day before the start of the 2012 school year, destroying nearly a third of the senior school campus. The school community responded to this disaster with a can-do attitude, with plans put in place to turn adversity into opportunity through ensuring a bigger and better facility rose from the ashes of what was lost. I was excited to tour the state-of-the-art facilities and also to answer some impromptu questions from the year 12 legal studies class, who are already using the facility. The building features six new science labs and nine maths classrooms and is equipped with world-class technology. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the whole school community for their resilience and in particular to Principal Mark Merry for his great work.