MR PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Trade and Investment) (09:35):

I rise to update the house about the significant investment by the Andrews government into children’s education in my electorate of Werribee. Our government is ahead of schedule in opening up 100 new schools by 2026, with 75 new schools opening between 2019 and 2024. I am pleased that this includes opening 21 new schools in the City of Wyndham to support our growing local community. This year in my electorate we opened Ngarri Primary School and Lollypop Creek Primary School. Construction is also continuing for our new schools for 2024, which includes a primary school and a specialist school in Werribee.

Since 2014 our government has invested $12.8 billion in building new schools and delivered more than 1850 school upgrades, creating more than 17,400 jobs along the way. Building the Education State also means investing in early childhood education for the youngest Victorians. This year every kindergarten in Wyndham is offering free kinder so every child can have the best start to their schooling life. As well as free kinder we are introducing pre-prep, a play-based year of learning, and establishing 50 new government-operated childcare centres. And we are collaborating with Wyndham council for the $47 million Building Blocks partnership, creating more than 3600 kinder places across Wyndham by 2029. With investments such as these, the Andrews Labor government – (Time expired).