Adjournment: Craigieburn South Secondary College

Ms SPENCE (Yuroke) (19:15:22) — (14 184) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek is for the minister to fund the construction of Craigieburn South secondary college. The Andrews Labor government provided funds to acquire land for this important future school in the 2017–18 budget, which will complement our great existing government secondary schools, build on the government’s outstanding record of new local schools in my community and provide access to secondary education close to home for young people in the growing areas in the south of Craigieburn. With the process of land acquisition now well underway, this is the ideal time to begin work on building this new school and further improve access to quality education for residents of my electorate. I hope the minister will favourably consider this request.

Response:

I am informed as follows:

Thank you for your continued advocacy on behalf of the people of Yuroke, particularly on matters relating to education.

I am advised that the Victorian School Building Authority is currently involved in productive negotiations for the acquisition of a site for the proposed Craigieburn South Secondary College, following the allocation of funding for this site in the 2017-18 State Budget.

The land acquisition process usually lasts an average of 12 months. During this time, the Department of Education and Training undertakes detailed site investigations to ensure that the proposed site is suitable for use as a school. The process is conducted in accordance with the Government’s Land Transactions Policy and Guidelines.

Developing a new school is a significant investment and involves a number of stages to ensure that public money is invested in the right place at the right time. The timing and allocation of funding for the construction of this school will be considered as part of the annual state budget process alongside other state wide infrastructure projects.

The Hon James Merlino MP
Deputy Premier
Minister for Education