Tuesday, 30 August 2022

 Mr FREGON (Mount Waverley) (15:30): It was fantastic to have the Minister for Education join me last week in visiting the Mount Waverley Secondary College senior campus and seeing the construction progress on the new STEAM centre. Construction on this terrific project commenced earlier this year; it is well and truly underway, with the foundations nearly complete. This STEAM centre, which will incorporate science, tech, engineering, arts and maths in one centralised hub for students, was announced by the Andrews Labor government back in the 2020–21 state budget in a $7.15 million commitment to modernising Mount Waverley Secondary College. The STEAM centre forms part of stage 1 of our plan for Mount Waverley Secondary College and follows the Andrews Labor government’s planning investment in 2020.

I am so proud to be part of a government that is investing record funding towards school infrastructure and ensuring every child in the Mount Waverley district has access to a great education. Thank you to college captains Azraf Ezaz and Charlotte Wilkes for taking me on a tour with the minister and to the many creative students who shared their outstanding technology projects. As someone with a background in tech I know just how critical creative and technical skills are to our future success. I would also like to extend a special thanks to our wonderful principal, Karen Wade, and her team for welcoming the minister and me to her wonderful school. It has been a pleasure working with them to deliver positive and visible results for the students of Mount Waverley. With spring and summer coming along I know that progress is going to increase because, as we all know, as the sun shines, the steam rises.