Wednesday, 21 February 2024

Seville Primary School

Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (19:08): (535) Nearly a decade ago the Labor Party promised for ‘all Victorian government schools to be asbestos free by 2020’. That is the quote in Labor’s media release dated 26 November 2014 titled ‘No more asbestos in Victorian schools under Labor’. But after nearly a decade in power, this tired Labor government has completely failed this promise. Just look at Seville Primary School in my local electorate, a wonderful local school with fabulous teachers delivering quality education to bright young students. However, Seville Primary School is still waiting on the government to do the right thing and remove the asbestos that is posing a health and safety risk.

The matter I raise is for the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC. On behalf of the Seville Primary School community, the action I seek is for the minister to take all necessary steps to ensure the Victorian Asbestos Eradication Agency eradicates all the asbestos at Seville Primary School as a matter of priority, being that they are government-owned buildings. The minister will know the purpose of the Victorian Asbestos Eradication Agency, a state government body, as outlined on its website, is to:

… eradicate asbestos from Victorian Government buildings …

and:

… prevent asbestos exposure, reduce the risk of asbestos-related diseases and make Victorian workplaces and communities safer.

But this is not happening at Seville Primary School, a government-owned building. Teachers and students are having to work and learn in an environment riddled with asbestos. I have seen it firsthand. The school community is calling for the asbestos to be fully removed, which would be best achieved by rebuilding these government schools with new, modern and safe school buildings, which the teachers and students deserve.

This truly has become a WorkSafe matter and I hope it will be taken seriously, because unfortunately the Labor government’s Department of Education and its Victorian school asbestos removal program have completely ignored Seville Primary School for asbestos removal. That is despite the Victorian School Building Authority’s own division 5 asbestos-containing materials assessment report for Seville Primary School, dated September 2020, revealing the significant amount of asbestos existing in the school. The VSBA’s report outlined that its asbestos assessor covered all main learning environments for students and teachers from prep to grade 6 – block A, block B, block C, block D, the portable classroom and the toilets. The report outlined hundreds of square metres of walls, ceilings, window frames et cetera with asbestos. Classrooms, the first-aid room, the staffroom, the canteen and toilets are detailed in the report as having action classifications that require this asbestos to be removed in the short or medium term. This report was conducted 3½ years ago, which is why the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC needs to take this action.