Page 2774 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 17 September 2014
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Reflecting on front entry upgrades, on a recent visit to Gold Creek high I was greeted by a crew of about a dozen young fellows, some students there, who did a brick and block course, and there had been a complete renovation of the school entry. It looked a treat and I could not pick the difference between a professional job and the job done under the watchful eye of the teacher there. Certainly, hats off to the school and to those students involved in that entrance upgrade.
Environmental sustainability is one area where this government has a proud record. All of our schools now have a solar photovoltaic system and smart meters to measure in real time the consumption of water, gas and electricity. The ACT is the first jurisdiction to achieve this. Mr Doszpot, it is the first jurisdiction to do this. That is a million miles away from your explanation of our schools being run down and without heating and cooling. Other environmental sustainability works include installation of energy efficient lamps and solar hot-water systems for pools.
To support the ACT government’s healthy weight initiative, water refill stations are being installed across schools, learn-to-ride facilities have been constructed and a dirt bike track has been constructed at Melrose high.
Mr Doszpot also asked the government to undertake more regular and more detailed maintenance audits of public schools. We do this. Mr Doszpot recognises this. This is good practice. A full condition assessment report is prepared every three years. Every school also has a hazardous materials survey and management plan. Every school has its asbestos report updated every year and every school has a tree audit report updated every year.
In relation to some recent electrical incidents, the directorate has commenced the following works at every school. All of the electrical boards will be inspected, cleaned, cables tightened and have a residual circuit device, or circuit breaker, installed on all single-phase electrical circuits. The three-phase circuits will be tested to check that the cables are not damaged.
Mr Doszpot complained about the absence of heating and cooling in many of our public schools. All of our schools have effective heating systems. In relation to the cooling of schools, the directorate investigates concerns raised by schools and assists with managing extreme heat conditions. These actions include rotating classes to cooler areas. But Mr Doszpot knows this. So he is not acknowledging that we are talking about extreme weather conditions that schools operate in. It is quite concerning that Mr Doszpot can stand in this place and run down our schools as he has.
He mentioned that many of our schools are over 30 and 50 years old. From his tone, would Mr Doszpot and the Canberra Liberals support knocking down old schools? He then went on to talk about refurbishment, which we did at Taylor, but he appeared not to be satisfied with that. I would question the community’s response if we went to North Ainslie or Telopea school and suggested, “After 90 years, you’ve had your time. Mr Doszpot thinks you may be too old, ill-fitted for purpose. We’ll knock you down.” I do not think the Canberra community has any interest in that notion whatsoever.
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