Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the distressing announcement from the heartless Queensland Liberal National Party government to close Nyanda State High School in my electorate. Nyanda's name comes from the old train stop in front of the school. It took this name after Salisbury State School combined with Acacia Ridge State High School, which closed down. So these school communities are used to change and heartache.

Nyanda is a fantastic school located right in the heart of Moreton. I have visited the school many times and have always been impressed by the fantastic teachers and very strong multicultural school community. The area has aged a little since Billy Thorpe and Jamie Dunn went to that school. However, it is booming again, and following our nearly $800 million commitment to Cross River Rail and the lord mayor's plan to turn our suburbs into sardine cans, this suburb of Salisbury is going to explode in students looking for a school. This is very clear in the lord mayor's new city plan—a plan that will be signed off by Premier Campbell Newman. So we know the area is going to boom. However, the government has proposed to close down Nyanda State High School. Students need these education facilities now and without Nyanda they will be forced to travel excessive distances to schools that are already, some of them, at maximum capacity, putting more pressure on class sizes. This is not acceptable, and the uncertainty is extremely distressing for kids and their families, especially those in year 12.

The LNP state government has already cut the funding to every single school in Queensland, state and private, because of their rounding down of student numbers and other cuts to state schools— (Time expired)