Page 233 - Week 01 - Thursday, 13 February 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
relative vulnerability of students and local environmental conditions. Those units have been distributed to schools over the last couple of weeks.
It was good to have the support of Asthma Australia for the government’s strategy in our schools. Air quality information kits were provided to schools, which were developed in consultation with experts. The guides, according to Ms Goldman from Asthma Australia, provided a clear standard reference, rather than leaving the burden on each individual school to develop its own policies. Ms Goldman said that the ACT government had been extremely responsive in addressing the health concerns of the community during this bushfire crisis. We want to thank the Asthma Foundation for its support and for providing that extra information for our school communities to use, based on the advice of expert members of our community, including ACT Health.
I want to talk about the work that has been happening within our schools over the last four years with respect to upgrades that will ensure that our schools are cooler in summer and warmer in winter. That four-year program included draught-proofing, which kept smoke out of our school buildings. It also keeps out leaves, dust and debris. That draught-proofing program will continue to be rolled out each year until all schools are complete. It includes things like double-glazed doors, as well as improved seals on the doors of the buildings.
For our new builds, the Education Directorate is proactively implementing the National Construction Code requirements for building permeability. This is a specification that includes wrapping buildings in airtight material prior to erecting the cladding structure, as well as improved seals on doors and windows. This ensures that our schools are draught proof beyond the current required standards. To date, the expansions at both Neville Bonner Primary School and Gold Creek Junior School have been built to this new specification. The Margaret Hendry School and the new P-10 school for Molonglo Valley, which is currently under construction, will also use this specification, as will all future builds. So, whilst this has been an unprecedented event, there have been a lot of lessons for new infrastructure builds, particularly for schools across the ACT.
I want to go to the sport and recreation area of my portfolio responsibilities. Mr Milligan is right, as is Mr Rattenbury, with respect to the countless events that were cancelled and the effects that that had on our community. People were missing out on exercise that they would normally participate in every day, whether that was walking the dog and feeding the chooks, or more formal events, including community events, that had to be cancelled.
Last year, when I met with all the peak sporting organisations, there was agreement between all of them that we needed to work together to build a strategy on how to manage smoke events. Already, strategies were in place to deal with extreme heat events, but now that we have this new issue to deal with as a result of climate change—smoke and air quality—our challenge is how to participate in sport while there is smoke pollution in the air. What should be cancelled? When should events be modified? When will the smoke clear? What level of air quality is acceptable? On all these things, local and national bodies are seeking information and guidance. I have
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video