Thursday, 15 May 2025

 Jess WILSON (Kew) (10:00): Labor’s 11th budget will be handed down next week, and I am seeking a fair share of funding for the electorate of Kew. Firstly, many of our local schools need upgrades. It has been 80 years since Kew East Primary School received any significant funding for capital works. Canterbury Girls’ has had no substantive investment in decades, having seen one of their walls fall down. Enrolments have nearly doubled at Balwyn Primary, but facilities have not been upgraded. Kew High needs the dark and dated classrooms in their main building replaced, and the next phase of Chatham Primary’s master plan remains unfunded. It is not just our schools. Road safety in Kew continues to be neglected. I feel like I am a broken record with the number of times I have written to the minister and raised these issues here, but Labor still ignores our community. Hundreds of residents have signed the petition for a pedestrian crossing on Barkers Road. The intersection of Willsmere Road and Earl Street is in desperate need of a pedestrian crossing. Glenferrie Road and Cotham Road is another dangerous intersection that I have raised to no avail. School students in our community continue to be put at risk on our roads. I have also asked the minister to improve accessibility on our tram routes, on the 48 and 109, again with barely a response. Finally, I hear constantly from residents and traders that they are feeling unsafe in our community. We need to see an investment in our frontline police force next week in the budget. Labor will use this budget to make sure that they fund the things that Victorians do not need. Get your priorities right.