Tuesday, 5 May 2026

 Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (14:22): I would like to acknowledge the service of Ms Mary Barry, who served for eight years as president of Middle Park Primary School, including throughout the education of her two daughters at the school Irene Barry and Antonia Barry. I want to note Ms Barry’s leadership in advocating for STEAM in the school’s curriculum with a deliberate addition of arts and critical creative thinking as foundations for student learning. I want to recognise the production of a short film made using a United Nations ambassador which brought sustainable development goals into classroom learning at Middle Park Primary School and was launched externally to a broader audience. I also want to highlight Ms Barry’s longstanding commitment to learning spaces through infrastructure, the principle being that quality school buildings and facilities are foundational to what is possible for children. I particularly want to acknowledge her tenacity, care and commitment. These were all created by her and combined federal and state funding to deliver real infrastructure outcomes for Middle Park Primary School, a practical working example of cooperative federalism at the community level. I want to note that throughout her presidency Mary Barry always worked in a bipartisan and objective way. I also want to conclude that Ms Barry leaves a lasting legacy at Middle Park Primary School, a fantastic local primary school treated as a living laboratory for industry-led government partnership and data-driven reform through R and D in Australian education. Mary Barry is a female entrepreneur driving our dual-sector universities and universities that stand alone.