Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always good to follow the member for Goldstein. He is always so negative and oppositional. He really reflects the opposition's policy of no, no, no. That is what the member for Goldstein is about. I am here to give you a positive picture. I am here to talk about some of the Building the Education Revolution projects that have been completed in my electorate of Shortland. Over $85 million has been spent on schools. This money would never have been spent. This money has delivered state-of-the-art classrooms, state-of-the-art libraries and state-of-the-art halls.

Gorokan Public School, where I went on 7 June, has six fantastic new classrooms. I have spoken about the Budgewoi classrooms, and the ones at Gorokan are of the same quality. They really reflect the needs of the school. Nords Wharf Public School has a new library. Marks Point Public School have the school hall they have dreamt about for many years. I will be attending Swansea Public School on Tuesday for the opening of their Building the Education Revolution project.

I attended Gwandalan Public School in the construction stages. They have got new classrooms. I was particularly impressed with what was happening there because they were employing apprentices who are in the government's Apprentice Kickstart program. That demonstrated how all these programs are coming together. On 30 June I will be visiting Mannering Park Public School and on 1 July I will be visiting St Patrick's at Swansea. Charlestown Public School are having their opening at the same time as Mannering Park, on 30 June. All these projects are welcomed by the school communities as they are very worthwhile projects.

On 8 June I was at Windale for the opening of 16 new one-bedroom units that have a six-star energy rating. I was there with representatives from Compass Housing. That is a $3.8 million project. The thing I found so exciting about it was the fact that a number of the residents have been homeless and have had enormous insecurity about their housing. There were a number of Indigenous tenants and people with disabilities. They are getting not only the wonderful support of living in these new houses; they are also developing friendships with the other tenants in that complex. We had a morning tea. It was such a success that I have given those tenants an undertaking that, during the July-August break, I will be back there with my staff and Compass Housing to have a barbecue. We are going to encourage the friendships that are starting to develop in that complex.

Around lunchtime on Saturday I had two hours of free time, so my husband and I went for a wonderful ride on our bikes along the Fernleigh Track. The federal government put $2 million into that project under the national pathways program. It was the largest project that was funded under that program. Once again I enjoyed the investment and saw the Commonwealth's money working for the benefit of the community. There were hundreds of people on that track either riding their bikes or walking. It was a wonderful experience. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.

Main Committee adjourned at 13:05

See this speech in context