❓ Mrs Munday asks about the Cook Labor government's investment in school infrastructure and how it compares to the Liberals and Nationals. The Minister responds by highlighting the government's investment, criticising the Liberal's plan, and emphasising Labor's commitment to public education.
AnsweredQoN 139Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Schools—Infrastructure upgrades
139 . ������ Mrs Lisa Munday to
the Minister for Education:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's record investment to deliver new and improved school
infrastructure.
(1) Can the minister please outline to the house
how this government's investment in education infrastructure is helping to
support our growing communities?
(2) Can the minister also please advise the house
how our government's plan for education compares with that of the Liberals and
Nationals?
139 . ������ Mrs Lisa Munday to
the Minister for Education:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's record investment to deliver new and improved school
infrastructure.
(1) Can the minister please outline to the house
how this government's investment in education infrastructure is helping to
support our growing communities?
(2) Can the minister also please advise the house
how our government's plan for education compares with that of the Liberals and
Nationals?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for Dawesville for
that question. She is a great champion for the schools in her community. I look
forward to working with her in the next few years to continuously deliver for
the students and families in her area.
Over the last eight years, this
Cook Labor government has built a world-class education system, delivering
quality schools no matter where kids live right around Western Australia with $4.8
billion worth of investment. In fact, in the last month alone, we have opened
two new primary schools to support the growing communities in our northern and
eastern suburbs. Of course, the member for Butler would know that the fantastic
Eglington Primary School is now doing great things in her local community, as is
Maarakool Primary School, which is in the Deputy Premier's electorate of West
Swan. As a former teacher of 27 years, I am very proud of our government's work
to ensure that we continue to put in the best infrastructure right across our
state.
We know that there is always
more we can do, and that is why when we went to the election, we committed to
an additional $750 million towards new and improved infrastructure in our
schools. There will be infrastructure upgrades at schools right across our
state, including those in Butler, Dawesville, Kwinana, Vasse, Darling Range,
Jandakot, Mount Lawley, West Swan and more. That also includes significant
upgrades to schools in our regional towns because we know that kids in the bush
deserve great schools, too, including investments in schools in Albany,
Kalamunda, Geraldton and Warren–Blackwood. In fact, we are delivering
our school infrastructure investments in the electorates of the members for
Churchlands, Central Wheatbelt and Mid-West. We will make sure that all kids
right around our state benefit from our investment in infrastructure, which is
strongly on the record.
Our track record and vision are
in stark contrast to that of the WA Liberals, which, quite frankly, took a very
measly school infrastructure plan to the last state election. That might account
for the extraordinary election result just a couple of months ago. If we remove
all the commitments that we took to the election—the ones that are so
good, such as Country Week, which were copied by the Liberals—there is
not much left to see in terms of a Liberal Party platform or election
commitments. It was pretty dire. I want to highlight that on the last page of
this Liberal Party document, members can see what the Liberal Party intended to
do in terms of investing in infrastructure in our schools. It shows that the
Liberal Party committed just 16% of the $775 million that we are committing to
school infrastructure in WA. Just let that sink in; it is quite extraordinary.
The Liberals thought that that was satisfactory in terms of investing in
schools right around our state. The good people of Western Australia know that
when it comes to education, the Labor Party gets it; public education is in our
DNA. We took our plan of an additional $775 million investment in key
infrastructure right around the state. I am looking forward to delivering on
that on behalf of the government for the people and students of Western
Australia.
I finish by saying that today is
Public Education Day. I take a moment to recognise that because Labor gets the
importance of public education. We always have. Universally free public
education is one of the greatest social democratic achievements of our nation,
and I am very proud as the Minister for Education to continue leading that
important work on behalf of the Cook Labor government.
The Speaker: The member for Kalamunda with the final
question.
that question. She is a great champion for the schools in her community. I look
forward to working with her in the next few years to continuously deliver for
the students and families in her area.
Over the last eight years, this
Cook Labor government has built a world-class education system, delivering
quality schools no matter where kids live right around Western Australia with $4.8
billion worth of investment. In fact, in the last month alone, we have opened
two new primary schools to support the growing communities in our northern and
eastern suburbs. Of course, the member for Butler would know that the fantastic
Eglington Primary School is now doing great things in her local community, as is
Maarakool Primary School, which is in the Deputy Premier's electorate of West
Swan. As a former teacher of 27 years, I am very proud of our government's work
to ensure that we continue to put in the best infrastructure right across our
state.
We know that there is always
more we can do, and that is why when we went to the election, we committed to
an additional $750 million towards new and improved infrastructure in our
schools. There will be infrastructure upgrades at schools right across our
state, including those in Butler, Dawesville, Kwinana, Vasse, Darling Range,
Jandakot, Mount Lawley, West Swan and more. That also includes significant
upgrades to schools in our regional towns because we know that kids in the bush
deserve great schools, too, including investments in schools in Albany,
Kalamunda, Geraldton and Warren–Blackwood. In fact, we are delivering
our school infrastructure investments in the electorates of the members for
Churchlands, Central Wheatbelt and Mid-West. We will make sure that all kids
right around our state benefit from our investment in infrastructure, which is
strongly on the record.
Our track record and vision are
in stark contrast to that of the WA Liberals, which, quite frankly, took a very
measly school infrastructure plan to the last state election. That might account
for the extraordinary election result just a couple of months ago. If we remove
all the commitments that we took to the election—the ones that are so
good, such as Country Week, which were copied by the Liberals—there is
not much left to see in terms of a Liberal Party platform or election
commitments. It was pretty dire. I want to highlight that on the last page of
this Liberal Party document, members can see what the Liberal Party intended to
do in terms of investing in infrastructure in our schools. It shows that the
Liberal Party committed just 16% of the $775 million that we are committing to
school infrastructure in WA. Just let that sink in; it is quite extraordinary.
The Liberals thought that that was satisfactory in terms of investing in
schools right around our state. The good people of Western Australia know that
when it comes to education, the Labor Party gets it; public education is in our
DNA. We took our plan of an additional $775 million investment in key
infrastructure right around the state. I am looking forward to delivering on
that on behalf of the government for the people and students of Western
Australia.
I finish by saying that today is
Public Education Day. I take a moment to recognise that because Labor gets the
importance of public education. We always have. Universally free public
education is one of the greatest social democratic achievements of our nation,
and I am very proud as the Minister for Education to continue leading that
important work on behalf of the Cook Labor government.
The Speaker: The member for Kalamunda with the final
question.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.