Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have great news on an outstanding example of putting politics aside and pulling together for the common good. The House may recall my calls in February for Queensland's education minister Kate Jones to kick the can and fund a hall for Bounty Boulevard State School in North Lakes, the biggest state primary school in Queensland. It followed two letters to the minister urging her support. To her credit, Mr Jones has responded to lobbying by myself and, more recently, the state member for Murrumba, providing a $5 million capital works grant that should see the hall completed before the year is out.

A special thanks goes to—as is often the case—an incredibly hardworking P&C. Congratulations to school principal Paul McSwiney, who has been an incredible advocate for his school. I spoke with Paul earlier this morning and he credited current and former P&C chairs Luke Beazley and Stuart Arthur with being instrumental in galvanising the community.

The PM will be pleased to know that I will stop bugging him for additional funds for this school. It is being funded by the state, as rightly it should be. The $1.1 billion in additional federal funding this year to states has been spent wisely in this case. Despite being the largest state primary school in Queensland, Bounty Boulevard is one of the best. I congratulate the parents, teachers and all staff.