Page 2149 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 2 August 2022
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education system, delivering on our election commitments and meeting the needs of the Canberra community.
MS ORR: Minister, what other new schools has the ACT government committed to building?
MS BERRY: The ACT government is building new and expanded schools in growing communities to ensure that every student has a place in their local public school. Over the coming years the ACT government will deliver a new P-6 primary school in Whitlam. This school will have capacity for up to 800 primary school students and will also have an early childhood education centre with 130-place capacity. Design and planning work is continuing for Molonglo’s third public school, which is scheduled to open in time for the 2025 school year.
The ACT government will also build a new school in north Gungahlin, due to open in 2024, and which will accommodate up to 800 high school students. The high school will deliver sport and recreation spaces for students and the community, and will include a double gymnasium, performing arts spaces and hard courts. There will also be general and specialist learning areas, small group programs, a library and an interactive learning area.
The ACT government is investing in the most ambitious school infrastructure program in the history of the government, and will continue to deliver great public schools across the Canberra community. This will also create jobs in delivering projects and working to ensure that there are opportunities for everyone—for example, of course, by ensuring that the new primary school being built in Strathnairn is led by a 100 per cent women site management team.
DR PATERSON: Minister, how will having a women-led project for the new public primary school in Strathnairn promote gender equality in the construction industry?
MS BERRY: Thank you, Dr Paterson, for that supplementary question. The ACT government is committed to ensuring gender equality and women’s participation in the construction industry through promoting more inclusive and gender-diverse hiring practices. Having a women-led construction project for the new primary school in Strathnairn sends a strong message to the community that we should keep working together to break down gender barriers in male-dominated industries such as construction.
The new school in Strathnairn is an election commitment, scheduled to be completed by 2025, and will ensure that families moving to Ginninderry have access to a great local public school. This $62.4 million ACT government project will be delivered with a tender that has a 100 per cent women site management team, as well as women’s representation in every trade subcontractor.
Women and gender-diverse people should be assessed based on their skills, abilities, training, expertise and capacity to do the work in the construction industry. Gender bias leaves so many capable workers and 50 per cent of the population locked out of an industry they could be working in. The ACT government is committed to ensuring that while delivering on our infrastructure commitments, we are also delivering on
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