Wednesday, 19 February 2025

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (18:15): (1427) My adjournment is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. The action I seek is for the minister to advise the Kialla West Primary School community if the government has plans to upgrade the school’s pedestrian crossing and drop-off and pick-up points to improve safety for students and families before the new co-located early learning centre opens. The Victorian government has announced that it will build the new early learning centre on the site of the existing Kialla West Primary School. Co-locating early learning centres on primary school sites is a very good policy. It is a policy that I invested in as the minister for early childhood because it provides children with a smoother transition to primary school and it makes the drop-off and pick-up more convenient for parents. However, care must be taken to ensure that a big jump in student numbers does not raise risks to pedestrian safety around Kialla West Primary School, and that means upgrades must be made to the school’s pedestrian crossing, parking and access points.

The early learning centre is due to open in term 1 of 2026, and the rise in student numbers will result in increased car traffic along the Goulburn Valley Highway and the school’s access roads during drop-off and pick-up times. This predicted rise in traffic has the potential to impact safety around the school, which already has a heightened risk. The school sits on the Goulburn Valley Highway, a major arterial road used by thousands of freight trucks every week. The highway drops from 80 kilometres down to 40 kilometres during drop-off and pick-up times, but the truth is that these signs are not always seen or heeded by visitors or even familiar locals.

I first spoke on the matter of safety at the Kialla West Primary School crossing in 2018, almost seven years ago, when a car picking up children from the school was hit by a truck at the school crossing, leaving a mother and three young students seriously injured. One of those students still suffers today from the consequences of that accident. I have raised this matter every single parliamentary year and today is the 23rd time that I have spoken on it in Parliament, and I will keep speaking about it as long as the Allan Labor government does nothing to improve safety for the school community and motorists. The early learning centre is due to open in 2026, and there must be upgrades to the school’s access points if safety is to be maintained once student numbers and traffic increase. In reality that work should be done before construction of the early learning centre starts, as numerous builders, vehicles, trucks and equipment accessing the construction site will reduce the limited parking and impact significantly on the cemetery lane drop-off area. I call on the minister to ensure safety is improved at the school crossing and drop-off and pick-up points at Kialla West Primary School as a matter of urgency.