Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hinkler’s state and non-government schools are powering on and delivering better classroom facilities and technology to their students, thanks, I might say, to the funding from the Australian government. I recently attended an official function at St Francis Catholic Primary School at Tannum Sands to celebrate the unveiling of a St Francis plaque and the announcement of stage 2 development of the school. This will involve an interim library, half a covered basketball court area, pupil amenities, physical education amenities, preparatory amenities, school parking, furniture and equipment, and it has only become possible because of  funding of $2.4 million from the Australian government for the Investing in Our Schools program.

Boyne Tannum has a population of roughly 8,000 people, and this school is giving local children a choice of education facilities in the area. The Commonwealth has already contributed to the area’s social development with the Tannum Sands State High School, into which the Commonwealth made a substantial contribution. I am sure that this growing dormitory area of Greater Gladstone will actually need a second high school in the years to come, possibly a private one.

At the southern end of my electorate, the Bundaberg Christian College and the Bundaberg Adventist Primary School also share in $150,000 from round 2 of the IOSP to carry out major capital works within their grounds. Each school has been allocated $75,000 under the scheme. Bundaberg Christian College will use its funds to upgrade its oval and install airconditioning in classrooms, while the Adventist school will build a modular learning centre with its funding. To date, the Australian government has delivered around $3.4 million to 31 schools in my electorate so that they can fund improvements which they have prioritised themselves.

I recently opened a terrific IOS program in a remote country area. It was a major upgrade of the Monogorilby State School. Most members probably have not even heard of Monogorilby. Monogorilby is a little school, 72 kilometres from Mundubbera and well off the beaten track in the extreme south-west of my electorate, surrounded by the Maranoa electorate on three sides. Students come from local grazing families, and the school currently has 12 students enrolled in years 1 to 7. It is one of the smallest schools in my electorate. Thanks to a grant of $85,650 under round 1 of the IOSP, the school community was able to use those funds to carry out a major facelift on the school, including construction of a small multipurpose building for the students, purchasing better IT as well as sporting equipment. They resurfaced the multipurpose courts and updated the school resource centre. That project would never have been possible without funding from the Commonwealth.

At last night’s NFF dinner, the outgoing president, Peter Corish, made an appeal in his farewell speech for the future of the family farm. If we are to keep families on the land, if we are to have people on family farms, it is the Monogorilby’s of the world, it is the people like the Monogorilby principal, Tim Youngberry, and the Jenkinson, Ratky, Lithgow, Tong, Weier, Fredericks and Payne families that we must support and invest in. These are the salt of the earth people and the school is the centre of their community.

These sorts of projects, though often desperately needed by state schools, never seem to make the priority list of state governments, and the teachers, the parents and the wider community face the long and arduous task of raising the necessary funding themselves. Under the latest round of IOSP funding, almost $2.4 million has been allocated to 23 state schools across my electorate with funding going towards IT equipment, playgrounds, classroom airconditioning and sports facilities.

Earlier this year the opposition criticised the program and said the government was favouring schools in coalition seats. There is a simple reason for this: the coalition holds more seats, and particularly more rural and regional seats, which have been systematically neglected by state governments. The fact is that the IOSP assessment process is independent and is overseen by state based assessment advisory panels. They comprise a parent and principal representatives, who receive technical advice from a state government adviser. This is a very good program. I commend it and I thank the minister for the funding for my area. (Time expired)