❓ Mr. Redman questions the Premier about the delayed and incomplete Mt. Barker primary school co-location project, highlighting funding shortfalls and broken promises. The Premier acknowledges delays and cost increases, reaffirming a long-term commitment to the project.
AnsweredQoN 246Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MT BARKER PRIMARY SCHOOL
I acknowledge the Tree of York ladies in the gallery today from the seat of Avon. I refer to the Premier’s commitment when he was education minister in 2004 to build a new primary school in Mt Barker to be co-located with the high school under the project name of “one community, one college”. A media statement he released on 8 December 2004 states that a brand new state-of-the-art $7 million primary school will be built on the Mount Barker Senior High School site in readiness for the start of the 2007 school year. As the Premier will be aware, stage 1 of the project will not be ready until the start of 2008. (1) Is the Premier aware that funding allowed only stage 1 to be built to enable years 4 to 7 to move to the high school site, while leaving years K to 3 on the old site? (2) Is he aware that his government has not committed any funding in the forward estimates to complete the move of all students onto the same site? (3) What assurance can he give in support of his commitment to the Mt Barker community that it will not be lumbered with a split-site primary school for years to come? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
I acknowledge the Tree of York ladies in the gallery today from the seat of Avon. I refer to the Premier’s commitment when he was education minister in 2004 to build a new primary school in Mt Barker to be co-located with the high school under the project name of “one community, one college”. A media statement he released on 8 December 2004 states that a brand new state-of-the-art $7 million primary school will be built on the Mount Barker Senior High School site in readiness for the start of the 2007 school year. As the Premier will be aware, stage 1 of the project will not be ready until the start of 2008. (1) Is the Premier aware that funding allowed only stage 1 to be built to enable years 4 to 7 to move to the high school site, while leaving years K to 3 on the old site? (2) Is he aware that his government has not committed any funding in the forward estimates to complete the move of all students onto the same site? (3) What assurance can he give in support of his commitment to the Mt Barker community that it will not be lumbered with a split-site primary school for years to come? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
I refer to the Premier’s commitment when he was education minister in 2004 to build a new primary school in Mt Barker to be co-located with the high school under the project name of “one community, one college”. A media statement he released on 8 December 2004 states that a brand new state-of-the-art $7 million primary school will be built on the Mount Barker Senior High School site in readiness for the start of the 2007 school year. As the Premier will be aware, stage 1 of the project will not be ready until the start of 2008. (1) Is the Premier aware that funding allowed only stage 1 to be built to enable years 4 to 7 to move to the high school site, while leaving years K to 3 on the old site? (2) Is he aware that his government has not committed any funding in the forward estimates to complete the move of all students onto the same site? (3) What assurance can he give in support of his commitment to the Mt Barker community that it will not be lumbered with a split-site primary school for years to come? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
(1) Is the Premier aware that funding allowed only stage 1 to be built to enable years 4 to 7 to move to the high school site, while leaving years K to 3 on the old site? (2) Is he aware that his government has not committed any funding in the forward estimates to complete the move of all students onto the same site? (3) What assurance can he give in support of his commitment to the Mt Barker community that it will not be lumbered with a split-site primary school for years to come? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
(2) Is he aware that his government has not committed any funding in the forward estimates to complete the move of all students onto the same site? (3) What assurance can he give in support of his commitment to the Mt Barker community that it will not be lumbered with a split-site primary school for years to come? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
(3) What assurance can he give in support of his commitment to the Mt Barker community that it will not be lumbered with a split-site primary school for years to come? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
(1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
I refer to the Premier’s commitment when he was education minister in 2004 to build a new primary school in Mt Barker to be co-located with the high school under the project name of “one community, one college”. A media statement he released on 8 December 2004 states that a brand new state-of-the-art $7 million primary school will be built on the Mount Barker Senior High School site in readiness for the start of the 2007 school year. As the Premier will be aware, stage 1 of the project will not be ready until the start of 2008. (1) Is the Premier aware that funding allowed only stage 1 to be built to enable years 4 to 7 to move to the high school site, while leaving years K to 3 on the old site? (2) Is he aware that his government has not committed any funding in the forward estimates to complete the move of all students onto the same site? (3) What assurance can he give in support of his commitment to the Mt Barker community that it will not be lumbered with a split-site primary school for years to come? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
(1) Is the Premier aware that funding allowed only stage 1 to be built to enable years 4 to 7 to move to the high school site, while leaving years K to 3 on the old site? (2) Is he aware that his government has not committed any funding in the forward estimates to complete the move of all students onto the same site? (3) What assurance can he give in support of his commitment to the Mt Barker community that it will not be lumbered with a split-site primary school for years to come? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
(2) Is he aware that his government has not committed any funding in the forward estimates to complete the move of all students onto the same site? (3) What assurance can he give in support of his commitment to the Mt Barker community that it will not be lumbered with a split-site primary school for years to come? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
(3) What assurance can he give in support of his commitment to the Mt Barker community that it will not be lumbered with a split-site primary school for years to come? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
(1)-(3) I thank the member for question. It gives me a chance, I suppose, to reflect upon the vast improvement made to the Western Australian education department’s infrastructure under this government compared with the shocking neglect of the education infrastructure - Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
Mr J.H.D. Day : You went kicking and screaming into a decent program, and you know it. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Some very good projects were also undertaken during the time of the previous government. Our capital works budget increased from, I think, about $150 million to $160 million to well in advance of $200 million. I think it is now more than $300 million. One of those programs was indeed the Mt Barker co-location. That came about because I went to Mt Barker while I was education minister in, I think, 2003 - it might have been 2004 - and met with members of the community from Mt Barker, who were interested in the school development, and the school staff at both the primary school site and the high school site, which were, and still are, two to three kilometres apart, I suppose. One is on the north side of the town and one is on the south side. The desire - it was not a demand; they did not demand - of the community was that the schools be co-located. I believed that that was a good option and put in place a process by which we could bring that about. The idea was that the primary school would be co-located on the high school site. The fabric of the primary school site is not too bad. There are parts of it that are very old and inadequate but there are other parts of the infrastructure that are quite good. There is no doubt that the optimum outcome was to get both schools onto the one site. So far I think we have spent $7.8 million on the project. Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
Mr M. McGowan : That is $800 000 more than was budgeted for. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. We have spent $7.8 million on the project which, when I was minister, all up was a $7 million project. Cost escalations have changed that project’s scope and it is now much more expensive. We are currently working on the construction of 11 new classrooms, a library for students from kindergarten to year 12, a covered assembly area and new administration areas. More needs to be done, that is true. The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot do everything at once. We have realised that about our capital works budget and we have had to make some adjustments. My commitment is that, in the long term, that will be the ultimate outcome for the school. In the short term we cannot deliver on the time lines that I aspired to as Minister for Education and Training in 2004. Nevertheless, it is going to be a much better outcome than the one that was there when I came into my position as the education minister in 2001. Although progress might not be as fast and might not have gone as far as the people of Mt Barker would have liked, it is quite considerable progress, and that is a fact. As I have said, the commitment is still there to realise the vision from the community. We have to face reality.
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