Page 1979 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 23 June 2021
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I turn, now, to the issue of school maintenance and overcrowding. The Canberra Times has headlined:
Macquarie Primary School is in “dangerous” state of disrepair, parents say.
In her report, the Auditor-General made significant comment about maintenance. Harrison School P&C—parents on the front line—says, “The school has been experiencing capacity and infrastructure issues since inception.” Lyneham Primary School board says, “As a board, we are concerned that poor building maintenance increases the risk to student and staff safety and wellbeing, potentially resulting in costly repairs and litigation.”
Mawson Primary School P&C committee says:
To put it bluntly, they are already “full”.
Garran Primary School board and P&C committee says:
Garran Primary School has been engaged in School Infrastructure discussions with the ACT Education Directorate over the past 5 years.
The School has been at maximum capacity over this time to the point where it has impacted on daily operations and delivery of education.
Lyneham Primary School board says:
Despite the best efforts of the Lyneham Primary School Principal, Building Services Officer and Business Manager, several maintenance issues are not able to be addressed within the regular school budget. Some of these are of increasing concern to the health and safety of staff and students.
I have gone through those quotes because I think it is very important that we understand that this is not some baseless assertion. This is evidence based. This is from the front line of parents, teachers and the union, all the way through to the Auditor-General, academics and Assembly inquiries in this place. They are all saying things that should be of concern to us in a number of the areas. I have broken them down into those five key areas. The Canberra Liberals’ vision is to bring out the best in every child, regardless of their background or ability. I am sure everyone would agree that that is something that we want to achieve, but it is not happening. It is not happening. I have read out just a portion of the evidence that points to that. If members go to my strategy and the document that was released, authored by Dr Karen Macpherson, they will be able to read more.
I do not have all the answers, and it is quite clear that the minister does not. It is quite clear that if she did, we would not have the sorts of concerns that are being raised. So why not support an independent review? Why not get someone who is expert and who is independent—as the Canberra Times said, and as others have said, we would benefit from that—and have that independent review in order to provide the answers that we need to do what we all want to do, which is to bring out the best in every child regardless of their background or ability?
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