Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Rudd government are committed to the education revolution and we recognise that schools are central to the well-being of our community. As we navigate our way through the global economic crisis, we know that good schools with good, well-supported leadership are the key to the continued success of our nation. Even before the introduction of the Nation Building and Jobs Plan in February, the Rudd government had already committed to spending a record $9 billion on Australian schools. Since then, education spending has been a key part of the government’s response to the global financial crisis, with an emphasis on creating jobs and boosting local economies.

I am pleased to report that many schools and students in my electorate of Wakefield have already seen the benefits of our policies. One of those schools to benefit is St Columba College in Andrews Farm—a very good school indeed. Two weeks ago, I was invited to a school assembly to officially announce a $2.5 million community gymnasium project, which was awarded to the school and its community partners as part of the Local Schools Working Together Pilot Program. This gymnasium, which St Columba is building in partnership with the Andrews Farm preschool and Playford Council, will consist of a full-sized multipurpose court, a weight training and physical fitness area, change rooms, offices and an office for agency support services. Importantly, the gym will also incorporate locally manufactured components, which will minimise transportation costs and boost local jobs. It is also an environmentally friendly design. This is a great project and it is a product of the local community working together. It is a great example of the Rudd government working with state and private schools to provide important shared facilities. Most importantly, these facilities will also help the local community of Andrews Farm, which is a growing, vibrant suburb but one in desperate need of community facilities. I want to thank Madeline Brennan, the principal of St Columba College, who is the driving force behind this project. She is passionate about local education and about the local community. I should also point out that St Columba College has also been allocated funding for 72 new computers as part of its computers in schools program.

The Rudd government has boosted the digital education revolution to more than $2 billion. Our aim is a target ratio of one computer for every two students for students from years 9 to 12. Other schools in the north of Adelaide and in country areas further north have also received funding in this round as follows: 223 computers for three Trinity College campuses; 29 computers for the Horizon Christian School in Balaklava; 67 computers for Balaklava High School; 145 computers for Gawler High; 54 computers for Para West adult campus, which serves many mature age students; 176 computers for Craigmore High; 212 computers for Fremont-Elizabeth City High; 103 computers for Xavier College, Gawler; and 93 computers for my old high school in Kapunda, which contains the historic Eringa Building, once home to Sir Sidney Kidman. This is a total of over $1 million invested in information technology for northern suburb schools and country schools. Combined with the extra $1 billion nationwide to build new science labs and language learning centres in our high schools, this will be of great benefit.

The Rudd government are also investing up to $12 million in equipping local schools in Wakefield with trade training centres. These training centres will be based at Balaklava and Craigmore high schools. They will be the two lead schools in the new trade training centres. Both schools will be better integrated with TAFE and will deliver quality and relevant training to local students. The investment at Balaklava High School has been rightly praised in the local newspaper, Plains Producer, which has built a reputation for supporting local education and the local community. These trade training centres will be focused on industries from agrifood through to horticulture, furniture making, engineering and shearing and, most importantly for the local area, on automotive and mechanical technology. We also know it is important that the trade training centre proposed for Trinity College in Gawler will address skills shortages in the manufacturing industry. (Time expired)

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