The Kingston High School community obtained over a thousand signatures on a petition calling on the Tasmanian state government to honour it's pre election and 2006 budget commitment to build a new high school at the Kingborough Sports Centre. This petition was presented to Parliament by the leader of the opposition Will Hodgeman this week. Unfortunately the minister for education David Bartlett has again avoided answering the question leaving all involved including those other schools that are concerned about their own future capital works in the dark.

 

Below is an extract from Hansard detailing the exchange between the leader of the opposition Will Hodgman, the minister David Bartlett and the Greens member for Franklin Nick McKim.

 

Mr WILL HODGMAN (Question) - The Minister for Education, who sits alone over there, has been pining for a question, so I think I should give him one. Minister, at the 2006 State election, Labor went to the election promising to build a new high school, a state-of-the-art, specialist facility in Kingston - and I quote: 'It will give the students in Kingston improved educational opportunities with an outstanding new Kingston High School to be built in the Kingborough Sports Centre precinct.' Will you provide an unequivocal guarantee today that you will keep your promise from the last election to build a new $28 million high school at Kingston, while at the same time ensuring the capital needs of other schools are not neglected?

Mr BARTLETT - I thank the member for his question. I draw the attention of the House to the fact that I welcome my first question of this sitting year. I welcome it from the Leader of the Opposition, as opposed to my shadow in this portfolio. I wonder out loud whether that is because the shadow has been putting it around all of Tasmania that she did not want the job at all, and in fact the job was foisted upon her by the Leader and that is why we now see the Leader asking the Education questions, because she spat the dummy and decided she did not want to do the job.

Members interjecting.

Mr BARTLETT - Just for the edification of the Leader of the Opposition, I have heard it from well over six or seven sources now, that the new shadow for education on the Liberal Opposition clearly does not want the job, clearly was not consulted by her Leader and clearly is very upset about it.

Members interjecting.

Mr SPEAKER - Order.

Mr BARTLETT - It is with great interest therefore that I accept this question from the Leader of the Opposition as opposed to the newly-appointed shadow. I am committed, and have put on the public record, to providing the people of Kingston with a state-of-the-art school for the young people of Kingston to attend. I also put on the record that the process that has commenced to ensure that the work goes ahead on this school has in no way been delayed, deferred or changed. That process is ongoing. I have met with the Mayor of the Kingborough Council and his general manager. Although the general manager is on leave at the moment, I have committed to do so again as soon as he returns. I have also had the great pleasure of meeting with half a dozen of the teachers in the school leadership group from Kingston High School who recently returned from a Hardy fellowship tour of the United States looking at the very best in school facilities - the most modern and up-to-date. They have looked at those school facilities that are really having results in terms of literacy and numeracy outcomes for their kids - the schools that are investing in those school facilities and investing in embedding technology into the curriculum and into teaching and learning. I had a very stimulating hour-and-a-half session with them talking about what we might do at Kingston High School. I am fully committed to a state-of-the-art school in Kingston and I have not deviated from the process.

Mr McKim - Not a new school.

Mr BARTLETT - It would take Mr McKim to raise a conspiracy theory, wouldn't it? For the record I note that recently in a radio interview on this topic Mr McKim said that the $30 million we had appropriated for the Kingston High School was of no concern in terms of the schools around that were raising issues that they felt might affect their capital works budget - he simply said that we should get the $30 million out of Consolidated Revenue to pay for those other schools. So I will put on the record here and now that I will be watching the Greens' alternative budget very carefully for the line item that says '$30 million plus $30 million' because that is what he committed to on radio some weeks ago.

Mr McKim - Do you support a new school?

Mr BARTLETT - I am committed to not only providing a state-of-the-art high school for the students of Kingston, I am also committed and in daily, if not weekly, conversations with the State Treasurer to ensure that we can also continue the record level of investment in capital works that this Government has undertaken