Wednesday, 18 February 2026

 John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (09:58): I recently had the good fortune to be able to attend the official opening of Narrarrang Primary School in Port Melbourne, alongside the Minister for Education, the Parliamentary Secretary for Education in the other place and member for Albert Park Nina Taylor and my Southern Metropolitan colleague Mr Batchelor. The 2026 school year has only just started in Victoria, but it is already a big year for our public schools, with 19 new schools having opened their doors for the first time on day one of the first term of the year. We as a government promised to build 100 new schools by 2026. By adding these 19 onto the 81 already built, we have now achieved that goal. These new schools are being opened across the state with an emphasis on providing new school places in growth areas. Narrarrang Primary School’s catchment area includes Fishermans Bend, which is currently home to Australia’s single largest urban renewal project. By 2050 the area is expected to be home to 80,000 people, which demonstrates why it is so important that new schooling infrastructure be built to prepare the area for an influx of new residents. The area’s existing residents are enjoying being able to send their kids to a school which is much closer to where they live. I would like to thank everybody involved in delivering this important project, and in particular I would like to thank the workers who did an incredible job on the design and construction of the building. Without them putting in the hard work the school could never have been built. I would also like to thank principal Tim Sawalaga for hosting us and showing us around the campus. Tim has a great vision for the school, and I look forward to seeing what he and his team and his students achieve in the coming years.