Thursday, 23 March 2023

 Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (09:59): It was an absolute pleasure to have the Premier join me in Truganina last week for a visit to Garrang Wilam Primary School, one of the newest and most fabulous schools in the Laverton electorate. I first visited this school in 2021 with the former Deputy Premier to officially commemorate the opening, and the school has absolutely blossomed since that time into a thriving community. Upon entering the school we were greeted by Ella, the school’s wellbeing dog, who in addition to melting hearts like mine and the kids’ gives the best hugs, and I can tell you that the Premier got plenty of them. We were fortunate enough to have a tour of the school grounds, where much of the original landscape prior to construction, like the natural rocks, was carefully reintegrated back into the school’s environment. But nothing beats sitting down with grade sixers and having a quick Q and A with the Premier, and I think it is pretty fair when I say that the questions these children asked the Premier and me gave the press pack a run for their money. It was great to talk to these students about their lives and life at school as well as their hopes and most importantly their dreams for the future. When we talk about building the Education State it is schools like Garrang Wilam, a new school that our government has recently built, that demonstrate this, and it was great to show the Premier the very good work that our government has indeed done and will continue to do in building these schools, whilst also creating amazing school communities like the one at Garrang Wilam.