Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I would like to relate to the House the story of another BER opening in my electorate, at Blackburn Lake Primary School, which I attended on 10 June to open its new multipurpose hall. Blackburn Lake Primary is a school that I first visited in 2008, and I have seen it change in that time. The change has come about due to that capital investment. Like so many schools in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, it was built many decades ago and, although it has had some work done, it has not kept up with the local community nor has it kept up with the technological needs of the students in its classrooms.

Looking at the figures for investment for 2009 shows that the Victorian state government put only $36,000 of investment into its own school for a whole year. This goes across both sides of politics in Victoria. Investment in government schools over many decades has simply not kept pace with the demands of growing populations.

Blackburn Lake Primary School now has around 440 students. Similar to many schools in my electorate, those 440 students could not have an indoor assembly; it was simply impossible to fit them into the size of room that was provided, which was really just some old buildings bolted together. They now have a multipurpose hall that can fit all of the students in, where they can have performances and do indoor sports. It is a particularly valuable community asset as well. I know there are local basketball teams and others interested in using such a facility.

This facility did not just happen by chance; it came about as part of the federal Labor government's stimulus program back in 2009. It is one of about 7,000 buildings across the country in our schools. It is the 13th project I have had the pleasure of opening in the electorate of Deakin. I have at least another 20 or so to open in new parts of the electorate as well, and many of those are coming up in the next few weeks. It is going to be a very exciting time for many of these schools as they get to use their new facilities. It has been such an important change for the area and especially for the students; they now have modern facilities and IT facilities that they were lacking, in many cases, and many of these are all in the one building.

The school still needs more. Whilst I was there for the opening of the multipurpose centre, the school received more portable classrooms because it is growing. Rather than receiving fixed assets, proper classrooms, they are still in the phase of receiving more portables. While new portables are good, they are obviously not a long-term solution for a school like Blackburn Lake Primary.

I would also like to say that on the day I was very well looked after by the school captains, Emily and James. I would like to thank them and the school vice captains, Thanushi and Andrew. They all did a great job not only in introducing me but in hosting a lot of the ceremony. The school's principal, who just started this year, Jason Walker, also did a particularly good job on the day of making sure that everyone was involved.

I would also like to pay tribute to the school's former principal, David Jewell, who was principal for 17 years . He was a great driving force, especially when it came to talking about how good a government education could be in a state school. In recognition of David Jewell, the school council actually named the centre after him. I think that is a great local recognition for someone that has had an impact on so many people in the local area.

Blackburn Lake Primary also had an investment from the federal government under the National School Pride program into its old school hall—to call it a school hall is a bit much. As I said, it could not fit all the school there. It has now been turned into an arts centre and has many more specialist facilities than before. The school has gone ahead in leaps and bounds. It is very popular. It is not the easiest school to get into because of its popularity, but it has great results and it is well located.

On the day of the opening I also got to plant a tree for the school. It is an acacia lightwood, indigenous to the local area, and I hope that tree grows into a magnificent specimen. The local nursery, Bungalook, tell me that it does suit the area. It will grow into a magnificent stand-alone specimen in the years to come. I hope that both the tree and Blackburn Lake Primary continue to grow and become even more valuable assets to the community.