Wednesday, 18 October 2023

 Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (19:16): (388) My adjournment this evening is for the Minister for Education. The action I seek is for the minister to join me at a round table with local principals of schools in my electorate of Tarneit. These fantastic principals include David Smillie of the Grange P–12, Vicki Minton from Baden Powell College, Keith Halge of Hoppers Crossing and of course the fantastic and formidable Anne-Maree Kliman of Tarneit P–9 College.

Yesterday evening during the adjournment the member for Kew came into this place to highlight some concerns about school facilities in areas like Tarneit, in growing areas. What I thought was important to do this evening was to perhaps give the member for Kew a little bit of a history lesson. Since 2018, in five short years, Melbourne’s west has enjoyed $491 million worth of funding from this state government for its schools. My electorate of Tarneit has been incredibly lucky to enjoy a pretty decent portion of that. That includes –

A member interjected.

Dylan WIGHT: You can interject all you want. That includes opening two new schools just at the start of this year, Karwan and Nearnung primary schools. That also includes capital works upgrades to existing schools: $10 million for the Grange secondary campus, $10 million for Hoppers Crossing Secondary, $5 million for Good News Lutheran College, $5 million for Tarneit Senior College and a $500,000 new toilet block for Mossfiel Primary.

Now, just going on with the history lesson, how about we have a think about what those opposite did in my electorate in education the last time we gave them a chance to govern, between 2010 and 2014. I will give you a guess. Nothing – not one red cent, not one new school, not one dollar for a major capital upgrade. Indeed it left Tarneit Senior College with an exploding student population without basic amenities like a gymnasium and a library, and it took an Andrews Labor government at the time to get elected to fund the second stage of Tarneit Senior College.

I understand that the member for Kew is pretty excited about her new shadow ministerial responsibilities, but I tell you what, we may as well call her the shadow minister for private education, and it is no wonder why. The member for Kew represents one of the most wealthy electorates in this state, with several colleges, including the one that she went to herself, charging over $35,000 per year, per student. (Time expired)