Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Building the Education Revolution has benefited 65 schools in Blair to the tune of nearly $109 million, from Mount Kilcoy in the north to Redbank Plains in the south. On 11 April 2011, I had the privilege of attending the largest primary school in the electorate of Blair, Raceview State School, a school of about 900 students. The school is dear to my heart because both my daughters, Alexandra and Jacqueline, were school captains of that school. As part of the Building the Education Revolution, $3.2 million was given to Raceview State School.

A new state-of-the-art library and multipurpose centre has been created, and that is extremely important for Raceview State School. The multimedia centre and the multipurpose hall were created, and there were literally a thousand or more people there that day. It was important because that school has honoured the substantial contribution made by a number of local residents in the Ipswich area who have contributed to the life of the Raceview community and not just the school.

For example, the multipurpose hall is named after the Marsh family. It is called the Marsh Family Hall. The Marsh family have been associated with Raceview State School for 100 years, since James Marsh joined the P&C committee in 1911. He remained on that committee for 33 years and was treasurer for 30 years. His granddaughter, Miss Hall, presents the sports award every year and is a year 6 teacher at the school, and his great-granddaughter Sahara Jarman attends prep at the school.

The McGuire Multimedia Centre is named after Brian McGuire. Brian has suffered some ill health in recent years. He is a modest gentleman and he is part of the Raceview school community. He was a principal at that school for almost 19 years. He served in state schools for 37½ years. He is widely respected by his colleagues. I said publicly on that day that in my opinion Brian was the best primary school teacher and principal in the Ipswich area and so a worthy recipient of the honour of having the multimedia centre named after him. The Moira Blackburne Room is now known as the Blackburne Room. Moira was a fantastic teacher. The Moira Blackburne Award for Mathematics and the Moira Blackburne Award for English are presented at the school to the top year 7 English and maths students at graduation each year. Moira Blackburne taught at the school for 15½ years and taught in primary schools for 23½ years until, sadly, her life was cut short. She is the sister of a good mate of mine, Ross Ploetz. This is a school that has benefited greatly from the Building the Education Revolution, as have local jobs and the Ipswich economy, and I commend Raceview State School. (Time expired)

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