Mr PALLAS (Tarneit) — I rise to raise concerns regarding the appalling condition of infrastructure at the Grange P-12 College, which is in my electorate. The school is 20 years old and has the third-highest number of portables in this state, most of which are poor learning environments. Across both campuses of the college there have been a number of issues affecting the school environment, including water damage, drainage and roofing issues, burst irrigation pipes and the current issue of defective heating. As a result of the heating and cooling issues there are recurrent student absences during extreme weather conditions as students know that the school is not able to provide them with an environment that has adequate temperature control. This issue has to be fixed.

The school council has written to the Minister for Education requesting a visit form him and funding for the replacement of the school’s portables. The minister has failed to take up the school’s invitation to see the condition of its buildings. I have seen firsthand the appalling condition of the schools facilities. The school is doing everything possible to address the issue; however, it is not receiving from the government the funding it needs to complete the job. I call on the minister to acknowledge the dire situation at the Grange and the issues which the school has been unable to resolve. The Grange is one of many schools in the west that are suffering as a result of the Napthine Liberal government’s failure to adequately invest in the maintenance of existing schools. Action needs to be taken to restore the adequacy of the school’s resources.

See Tim’s speech in Hansard here.