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

During the week that parliament did not sit, I was privileged to attend five Building the Education Revolution recognition ceremonies, and each and every one of those school communities was overwhelmed by the investment that the federal government has made in their schools.

The first school I attended was Swansea Public School, one of the oldest schools in the Hunter region, whose history goes back to the 19th century. The building and classroom refurbishment there were done in a very special way to preserve the integrity of the school. I also attended the Building the Education Revolution recognition ceremonies at Mannering Park Public School and Gwandalan Public School, two schools that I worked very closely with during the process. I would like to put on the record of this parliament that the principals of those schools—Annette Parry, the Principal of Mannering Park, and John Begg, the Principal of Gwandalan—were outstanding in the way that they performed and worked with me, and they got every possible cent that they could out of the program. During the building phase, I attended Gwandalan Public School with the member for Blaxland, who was the parliamentary secretary at that stage, and we were able to see the Apprentice Kickstart program working in conjunction with the Building the Education Revolution program. It was largely through the lobbying of both of those principals that a number of schools received interactive whiteboards. Charlestown Public School had a refurbishment of its facilities. St Patrick's Catholic Primary School had a new school hall built, and I have to say it would be the most aesthetically pleasing school hall in the whole of Australia. It is built on the shores of Lake Macquarie. You can look out the door and just metres away you will find the beautiful Lake Macquarie. Congratulations to all these schools.

I would also like to recognise that the new Liberal state member for Swansea, Garry Edwards, attended all of those openings in the Swansea electorate. It is really pleasing to see that a Liberal state member can support this program while members down here oppose it and do not recognise the fine work that has been done. (Time expired)

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