Thursday, 22 June 2023

Adjournment

Harkaway Primary School pedestrian crossing

Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (17:13): (241) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education. I ask the Minister for Education to come out to Harkaway Primary School to visit the students and parents in relation to the student crossing that was out the front of that school, which has been removed by the government and council. I have a letter that I want to read in from the students at the school, and it states:

Dear Brad Battin –

Members interjecting.

Brad BATTIN: Sorry, to have people just continuously yelling across when I am talking about some of the kids from the school I think is actually appalling from the government.

The SPEAKER: Member for Berwick, continue with your point of order. Do you have a point of order?

Brad BATTIN: No, I am still in my adjournment. If the government do not want to listen to what the issues are out in my electorate, from the kids in my electorate, then I suggest maybe that they do not sit in here and move outside. This is a letter from the children in my electorate, which says:

Us kids and staff at H.P.S. find it really disturbing and unsafe that our school crossing is gone. We are a school aren’t we? So why don’t we deserve a crossing just because we’re a smaller school? One life is just as important as 100 lives. As you once said “If you see a house with everything stolen and you see an elderly ladies house with one of her gnomes smashed. Treat it the same.” But instead of that it’s like “If you see a school with lots of kids but no crossing and you see a smaller school with no crossing. Treat it the same.” ALL schools deserve a crossing to make sure ALL lives are protected.

If you’re going to care about children and install school crossings, you might as well give EVERY school a crossing, because what’s the point of saving only a handful of children when you can save even more. And every year more than 9,000 kids are driven to the emergency room for injuries that occur when they aren’t supervised near motor vehicles. Just imagine going to school knowing that there’s no one there to make sure you’re safe.

You have the opportunity to save thousands of children’s lives right in front of you, so why not choose to? It shouldn’t matter if we’re a smaller school we NEED a crossing because our lives matter …

Just like that girl who changed the way they take care of the big cats in the zoo with a letter and actual passion, and just like Malala fought for women’s rights I’m fighting for our school crossing, I’m writing a letter hoping to change how people treat smaller schools. And now that I’ve done my part it is time for you to do your part.

Kind regards,

Natasha

That is a letter from the Harkaway Primary School, where a young girl understands that the removal of the crossing, which happened just last month, has now put these students at risk trying to cross a reasonably busy road. Yes, they are small school, but they deserve to be respected and to be safe going to and from school when people are dropping them off, whether it is down at the milk bar in Harkaway, across the road at the tennis court or at Harkaway Hall, from where they have to walk to go to their local school.