Preston High School
Mr SCOTT (Preston) (09:58): I rise here today to congratulate the High School for Preston group, who I was lucky enough to meet with this week. This is a group of people who fought hard to re-establish public education on what was the former Preston Girls Secondary College site and who have seen a wonderful school develop now, which has received $18.93 million in the recent budget, allowing for the future of the school to be guaranteed to provide decades of wonderful education to kids in the area that I am lucky enough to serve. I would like to pay particular tribute to Anh Mai, Nanne Mitchelson, Nadya Tkachenko, Vair Buchanan, Danielle Parker, Warwick Anderson and Jane Melville amongst others. This is a group who upon the closure of the former Preston Girls Secondary College fought hard for public education to return at a secondary level within Preston—organised petitions and street stalls, lobbied assiduously not just myself but the minister, the minister’s office, the department, the Victorian School Building Authority and other agencies within government, presented evidence and won the argument, creating a legacy which does credit to them and will serve the community for many years to come.