Thursday, 14 November 2024

 Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Minister for Police, Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Racing) (09:56): I was very pleased to join students at Olympic Village Primary School, the Premier and the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education as we celebrated the milestone of the government’s school breakfast club serving its 50 millionth meal. More than a thousand schools already participate in school breakfast club programs, which provide healthy breakfasts, lunches, snacks and take-home food packs for students whose families are in need. It is a great social time also for students to get together in the morning over brekkie. The school breakfast club program is part of a $287 million investment in the Victorian budget to help ease cost-of-living pressures for school families.

Families will also soon receive their letter from the Premier with their $400 school saving bonus. The government has also expanded the Glasses for Kids program into more than 400 extra schools, providing free vision screening to children in year prep, foundation, to year 3 and free glasses for students who need them, and of course you cannot go past the Smile Squad vans that we see around our schools.

But can I say that I was pleased to join the Premier and the Deputy Premier at Olympic Village Primary School in West Heidelberg in my electorate, a school that does amazing work, a school that for $6 million we rebuilt under our government. We knocked it over, we rebuilt it, and it is a brand new building providing increased opportunities for more enrolled students in West Heidelberg, a great community in my electorate. It was great to spend time with them, and to principal Ms Ndalianis, I just want to thank her for her leadership and the great work of the school community there in Olympic Village, West Heidelberg.