Wednesday, 17 August 2022

Public Accounts and Estimates Committee

Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates

Mr McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (10:14): I am delighted to rise and make some comments on the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s report on the 2020–21 budget estimates. I particularly want to highlight some of the education areas in that report. We know in this place that there is pork-barrelling in terms of education and that the notion that this government governs for all Victorians is a complete fabrication, because in terms of investment in education in the Ovens Valley and other regional areas it really is just well and truly well behind what other electorates have been receiving. I note in the report, on page 92, there is $3.1 billion in the school capital program over the forward estimates:

The Minister described the level of investment to‑date as ‘unprecedented’ noting the Government had now invested more than $9 billion over the past five years to deliver more than 1,600 school upgrades.

I ask: where does Yarrawonga fit in this? Yarrawonga has been neglected. It is the fastest growing town in regional Victoria. People are moving to Yarrawonga in their droves, and that is not just retirees, that is families with kids. With kids comes the need for education, and where is Labor when it comes to educating our kids in Ovens Valley? They really are missing in action.

As part of the maintenance blitz of 2019 Yarrawonga got $314 000. Well, whoopee-do. The fact is with $314 000 now they can stop some of the leaks that are coming in through the roof and they can actually turn their heating on in the wintertime, so we should be grateful for that $314 000 investment. But we are not a Third World country in regional Victoria, so you have got to do more than just a regional maintenance blitz. We need real investment.

Yarrawonga education operates in a very competitive environment. We know that. We have got Sacred Heart in the same town, a great school with great facilities. We have got Galen College and Cathedral College just a bus ride down the road at Wangaratta. So we need to keep the investment in public schooling, in Yarrawonga P–12, to make sure that that investment stays strong and provides great facilities for students in that public sector. I am certainly a staunch advocate for keeping public education strong. That is why back in 2014 we committed $7.6 million to complete stage 2 for that school community, and that community was over the moon. Then the government for Melbourne came to power, and all of a sudden we saw that they had to rescope their building because they pulled money out of that. We had committed—the money was in the budget, $7.6 million—and that money was not all used. All of a sudden the scoping had to be changed, and they did not get delivered what was promised in the first place. So that is why more investment needs to be done. On page 93 of this report:

The Committee queried the Minister about whether the Government was building enough classrooms for future growth. The Minister highlighted the Government’s latest investment provides for various initiatives including new schools, school expansions, land for future schools, and relocatable classrooms …

and it just goes on and on. But again, where is Yarrawonga when it comes to all this investment that is going on? You drive around Yarrawonga—in fact I will take the minister for a drive around Yarrawonga, if I can get the Minister for Education to come to Yarrawonga, to see what is at the school. I encourage her to come. In fact I will ask her and invite the Shadow Minister for Education as well, and let us see who is interested in seeing that communities like Yarrawonga can get looked after. I strongly encourage the Minister for Education and the shadow minister to come and visit. I will take them around the school. I will let them see the phenomenal growth that is going on in a town like Yarrawonga to make sure that we can get that investment, because we are falling behind greatly. It seems like the only investment that goes into education in Yarrawonga is from a coalition government. We have even been trying to get a school bus, a town bus to get kids to school, and we cannot even get that. So when we talk about neglect, we cannot go spruiking about how much investment—billions and billions of dollars—is being spent on education and at the same time not even get a school bus, a town bus, to help us deliver the kids to school. So it is really important that we get the Minister for Education up and have a look. As I said, I offer the same to the shadow minister, and let us see who is really keen, who is fair dinkum, about wanting to know what improvements are needed at Yarrawonga P–12, because the lack of investment that has come from this government is really disappointing, particularly when they spruik that education is one of their major mantras that they want to talk about. That is why I encourage the minister to come to Yarrawonga.