Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am actually here to talk about my electorate. I do not know what those on the opposite side have done for the last six weeks but they have not been talking about their electorates.

I opened a new school site at Damla College in Ferndale. Upon the completion of the project the school will receive two prefabricated classrooms and a prefabricated science laboratory. The Australian government provided $1,036,000 in funding from the capital grants program. I was met by Mr Nail Umur, Principal, and Mr Ozer Demirkan, the Baris Education and Culture Foundation chairperson.

The project involved the purchase of a school site. The Australian government contributed a grant of $800,000 under the capital grants program and Damla College contributed $900,000. The second part of the project involved the purchase of a prefabricated science laboratory, which the school was renting, and the purchase of two prefabricated classrooms. The Australian government contributed a grant of $236,000 under the capital grants program and Damla College contributed $237,000.

Damla College is a co-educational primary and secondary college, with approximately 167 students. I was pleased to visit Damla College to see firsthand the new school site and learn more about those classrooms and the science laboratory. The Australian government is committed to putting science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the heart of school education. It is critical to our nation's future that more students study science and maths subjects. These new learning spaces take into account the latest in education research and will see students learn more effectively.