Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Acting Deputy President Boyce, for this opportunity to speak today, and indeed, for standing in for me in the chair. I want to speak today about the success of the federal government's Building the Education Revolution and also the Teaching and Learning Capital Fund for Vocational Education and Training. It may be a bit unusual for a retiring senator to spend his last weeks criss-crossing vast reaches of Western New South Wales rather than at some overseas location, but I took the opportunity to visit a number of towns and villages in the electorates of Calare and Parkes.

On that journey I had the pleasure of being able to open school halls, libraries, schoolrooms, science labs, innovative centres and much more. I think I covered 1,400 kilometres in five days. I was able to do this because of the foresight and courage not only of the current government but also the Prime Minister herself. The BER was part of the economic stimulus program announced in February 2009. This meant that there will be 24,000 projects to be delivered over five years in 9,000 schools supporting local jobs in the construction of minor and major infrastructure projects in primary schools or science and language centres in secondary schools. Shortly I will share with the Senate the programs that this government funded and the genuine gratitude that was shown to me as a representative of this government because of our decisions. All up, I was able to announce that this government had spent $11,590,282 in those areas in schools and TAFEs.

Last week in New South Wales it was Catholic Schools Week. It was appropriate, then, that my first school was All Hallows in Gulgong. Gulgong is a famous old gold­mining town where Henry Lawson spent the early part of his life, and in fact the local Labor Party celebrates that formidable feminist, his mother, Louisa Lawson, at an annual Louisa Lawson Dinner. The school, All Hallows, was opened in 1883. The school was run, up until some years ago, by the order that founded it, the Order of Sisters of St Joseph, that is, St Mary McKillop's order. She may well have visited that school.

The building itself was constructed in the Spanish Mission style. The school received $1.4 million. The project was managed by that exceptional group of men in the Catholic Education Office in the diocese of Bathurst. The executive director, Peter Hill, was present, as were those chaps from that division, Brian Morrissey and Gerry Lynch. The school has 120 students, and the school captains, Grace Hensley and Olivia Sevin, gave me a tour of the facilities in which they learn. Principal Catherine Gaudry, staff, parents and locals worked hard to get that new classroom, library and the multipurpose refurbishments delivered on time and on budget. It did support the employment of 40 local workers and everybody is proud of the outcome, despite the snickers of those opposite. Indeed, the extensions were blessed by Monsignor Frawley who had a hall named after him, and also by Father Bellamy, who did not have one named after him—maybe he will later. I moved from there to Borenore Public School. This school has been going since May 1876 and the BER, our program, delivered an impressive structure including a new library. The BER funds amounted to $300,000. This primary school has 40 students, and this figure has almost doubled in the last few years. The school captains, Gabrielle Guisard and James Maclennan, gave me a very professional tour of the school. The Principal, Ruth Harris, a former schoolgirl from Tullibigeal—I am sure Senator Nash knows where that is—

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I certainly do.

Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

spoke at the opening, as did Paul Stirling from the New South Wales Department of Education and Training. I would also like to make a special mention of the school cleaners, Max and Colleen Baker, who retired after 35 years of cleaning the school. Also present at the opening was Cabonne shire councillor Kevin Duffy, who is a former ALP candidate. Kevin advised me that his family has been handing out Labor how-to-votes at Borenore Public School for well over a century—and not once have we won that booth. I suggested that maybe it was time we changed families!

The Catholic school at Eugowra is named St Joseph's. It received $1.24 million from the BER program. The Catholic Education Office out at Bathurst did their usual exceptional and very professional job. For those opposite, 40 jobs were created as a result of the initiative of this government. There are 33 students at this school. It was founded in 1882, again by the Sisters of St Joseph, and St Mary MacKillop may have visited here as well. I was greeted by the school captains, Sophie Welsh and Troy Park. Peter Hill and his team were there, as was the Cabonne shire mayor, Bob Dowling, who sat on my left—I suggested to Bob that that is probably the only time he has been on the left of anything—and councillors Kevin Duffy and Janelle Culverson. The Principal, Kathy Eppelstun, expressed her extreme gratitude for what the federal government had given the school community. Father Dooley blessed it. There was also a nun who had taught there, Sister Kathy Jennings. A nice sideline was that a cake was cut at the opening of the school hall and it was cut by the oldest known former student, Ron Sloane, who left school in 1929, and the youngest, Olivia Holland.

It was a great day at Eugowra. The St Joseph's community were particularly generous to me. I do not think I need to declare this to the Senate but I was given a variety of gifts. I was given a nice wool clip that I understand contributed to the making of Prince William's jacket. I was given a bit of the marble that was mined there that is in the hall outside. I was also given some honey, wine and soap.

Opposition senators interjecting—

I am not sure about the soap but I have used the wine. From there I went to Lake Cargelligo Central School and inspected the new science centre and the refurbished primary classrooms. The school received $3 million under the BER. It has 210 students, of whom 30 per cent are of Indigenous background. The Principal, Margaret Chamen, the teachers and students were very, very happy with what the BER money had been at able to do for them. I was given an impressive welcome by the Aboriginal dance group, a great reception by the kids and a great lunch put on by them. Again, there were shire councillors there: Des Manwaring from Lachlan shire; an old mate of mine, Graham Scott, and Bob Sanson, who is the local representative.

Finally, I attended the opening of programs at the TAFE New South Wales Western Institute in Orange. I had an opportunity to look at the Green Skills Trade Centre, which I opened, and other programs that the government contributed to. The government contribution here was $5.6 million. It employed many locals. It gave some of the apprentices an opportunity to test out their skills and it is going to make a valuable contribution to the local economy. In 2010 this institute had enrolled 40,556 students, of whom 7,132 were Aborigines. That is an increase from 2009 of 589. The building where the centre is located is truly spectacular and any members of the Greens would be smacked by the innovation of the imaginative teachers. Indeed, the mobile mining simulator and the in-house one are very important. These courses train men and women to work in the mining industry. As a number of us would be well aware, there is plenty of work in mining out in western New South Wales. The mobile simulator is able to move between a variety of communities, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, and it allows people to be trained to work in the mining industry. I would like to congratulate Sandra Gray and Rebecca Wilcox, who were my guides on the day, and the institute's well respected director, Kate Baxter, a great leader. I was joined on the day by another old mate of mine, John Davis, whom I first met when he was the Mayor of Blayney and who is now the Mayor of Orange, and by an old sparring partner, John Cobb, the member for Calare, who turned up.

I have detailed my visit to western New South Wales because I want it understood how many BER and other initiatives this government has taken up have been overwhelmingly well received. The BER gave schools a once in a lifetime chance to do those things that they needed to have done but other priorities pressed. It provided work for locals where work was a bit quiet. It gave communities halls to be used by all, libraries, classrooms, science labs and, in Orange, a spectacular skills centre and practical courses for the mining industry in which Newcrest is actively involved. These decisions that we, the government, made were not supported by all in this parliament, but they are definitely supported by the communities I went to in the last week in the electorates of Parkes and Calare. All the programs were delivered on time and on budget. And it has to be said that the Prime Minister was the minister who pioneered this initiative, and the facilities these students enjoy today and will enjoy into the future are a product of her leadership. These people have said to me in no uncertain terms how grateful they are for the projects that this government has delivered to regional education.