Thursday, 19 February 2026

 Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (09:59): It was a great pleasure to join the Minister for Education Ben Carroll and Labor’s candidate for South Barwon Rebecca Thistleton to officially open Biyala Primary School at Armstrong Creek recently. With a capacity of up to 650 students, Biyala Primary School features bright, modern learning spaces designed to grow alongside this fast-expanding community. Under the leadership of principal Shannon Cormack, who brings passion, experience and a genuine commitment to students and families, the school is already building a strong and connected culture. Armstrong Creek is one of the fastest growing areas in our region, and this is exactly the investment local families deserve, ensuring children can learn close to home in a school built for the future. Importantly, Biyala Primary School includes an onsite kindergarten, integrating early learning with primary education and making that transition to school much easier for families, and of course it has the one-stop pick-up in the same location. Thanks to the Labor government’s record investment, Victoria’s students and schools are leading the nation. The Allan Labor government have delivered a further $1.5 billion in education infrastructure in this year’s budget, bringing our total investment in building, upgrading and modernising schools to $18.5 billion since coming to government. In fact around half of all new schools built right across Australia since 2018 have been built right here in Victoria. That is an investment in our children. It is an investment in our communities and our state’s future.