Mr PALLAS (Tarneit)— I am pleased to reflect on Victorian
Labor’s commitment to funding education in Melbourne’s western suburbs. I have
in the past few weeks joined with the parents and teachers of two schools in my
electorate, Tarneit P-9 College and Werribee Secondary College, after having
spent most of the last four years of this government’s term calling on it to
provide the funding necessary to complete the capital works at both of these
schools to no avail.

However, today I am pleased to say that the pleas of these schools
have not fallen on deaf ears when it comes to this side of the house.

It was the Labor government that provided $12 million to complete
the first two stages of Werribee Secondary College, and despite the election
promise of a member in the other place, Mr Elsbury, it is only Labor that has
committed to funding the third and final stage. Those opposite might be content
to let our schools fall apart and our kids fall behind, but that is not what we
stand for on this side of the house. In its last term in office Labor spent an
average of $467 million a year on capital works for schools. This government
has spent a statewide average of $278 million a year — a figure indicative of
the neglect it has shown some of our neediest schools.

I am also very proud that Victorian Labor has announced that, if
elected, it will ensure funding for the local learning and employment networks
(LLENs) over the next four years, which would assist so many organisations,
including Wyn Bay LLEN in my own community, in doing their excellent work
helping young people get the skills they need to do the jobs they want