Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, to answer the question of the member opposite, we contacted the then minister’s office. I hope the new Minister for Education, Science and Training will attend to that matter, if it had not already been determined by the previous minister. Caroline Springs College is a wonderful school. It is located in an area where there is not only a primary Catholic school, Christ the Priest Catholic Primary School, but also another independent school, Mowbray College. The amazing thing about those three schools is that they share resources and also land. There is a great harmony amongst the three schools in the way they look after children and ensure children from each of the schools work and play together.

I would hate to think that, in one of the fastest growing areas of Melbourne—and certainly one of the fastest growing areas of the electorate of Gorton—Caroline Springs College is neglected because of a bureaucratic decision not to allow a grant. On the face of it and after discussions I have had with the principal, Gabrielle Leigh, and other colleagues of hers at that school, I cannot see any reason for that grant not to be forthcoming. I hope, therefore, if that decision has not already been reversed, that the minister’s office and indeed the department review that decision. If that has already occurred—if the decision has been reversed and the funding has been provided to them—and I have not been informed, it has happened very recently and I would welcome it.

This is such an important area of the western suburbs of Melbourne and one of the fastest growing suburbs of Melbourne. It would be awful to send such a message to such an innovative school. It is a school that collaborates with two other schools—one a Catholic primary and the other an independent school—in a way which I think is a template for other areas where there are schools within the same location. It would be awful to think that the college would miss out. As a result of population growth in that area of Melbourne, Caroline Springs College has outgrown its first campus and the second campus is coming along very well. But, because of the exponential growth that is occurring in that area, resources have to catch up to the quickly increasing population growth and density. I think it is incumbent upon local, state and Commonwealth governments to be aware of the growth in that region and to ensure that funds are provided so that western suburbs children do not miss out.

I make that plea in this place via you, Mr Deputy Speaker Somlyay, to the minister. I hope the plea is heard and that the claim for the application to be reviewed will be attended to. Before Christmas, I gave a promise that I would do everything I could to ensure that the decision would be reversed. We did make contact with the department and the minister’s office, and we await their decision.

I will finish on the fact that the government has a charge to answer: when you look at the average amount of funding going to coalition seats compared with that going to Labor and Independent seats, you find that a higher level of funding is being provided to government seats. It is something that the government has to explain. There may be reasons that are yet to be uncovered by the shadow minister for education and others; but, until we are provided with them, we will assume and, as a result, conclude that the government is pork-barrelling certain areas—

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