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PORT LINCOLN SCHOOLS REPORT |
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Leave granted. The Hon. P.L. WHITE: Yesterday during question time, the member for Flinders asked a question in relation to Department of Education and Children's Services planning in the Port Lincoln region and a report she believed had been prepared. The member claimed in a press release she distributed today that `the report was completed last year at a cost of $250 000; however, the minister has obviously not sighted it yet.' The member's assertion is incorrect. There has been no such expenditure. I can inform the house that my department has advised that, to date, $48 535.79 has been spent on undertaking an investigation into schooling needs in Port Lincoln. That amount includes the salary of an officer who was tasked earlier this year with gathering information for the department on options for Port Lincoln's schools and kindergartens. A preliminary draft was supplied for evaluation, and that evaluation revealed that further work needed to be done. Since that time, further demographic analysis and traffic studies have been initiated. Clearly, some preliminary work has been done on a range of matters associated with the potential impact of city redevelopment on education service delivery in Port Lincoln, but the proposals being discussed are a lot larger than just the delivery of education services. There are a wide range of other interests in Port Lincoln to be considered.
PORT LINCOLN
SCHOOLS REPORT The Hon. P.L. WHITE (Minister for Education and Children's Services): I seek leave to make a personal explanation. Leave granted. The Hon. P.L. WHITE: I need to apologise to the house. In answering a question from the member for Flinders, I thought she said `Kangaroo Island'. However, I was advised that she said `Port Lincoln'. So my answer referred to the Kangaroo Island review. However, I will get the proper information for the Port Lincoln issue about which the honourable member was referring. I apologise to the house; I misheard.
SCHOOLS,
PORT LINCOLN REPORT Mrs PENFOLD (Flinders): My question is to the Minister for Education and Children's Services. Will the minister advise the house when the report on the options for Port Lincoln's schools and kindergartens will be made public? In November last year, a project officer was appointed to compile an education brief on the options for Port Lincoln's schools and kindergartens. There has been huge local interest in this report, and several public meetings have been held. Consequently, I wrote to the minister on 22 May and again on 12 August asking when the report would be made public. The Mayor of Port Lincoln, Peter Davis, has also written to the government on 29 August, as was reported in today's Port Lincoln Times, as follows: You may be aware that the Education Department recently spent some $250 000 investigating the currently overcrowded and outdated junior primary and primary schools that lie alongside Centenary Oval and immediately north of the current CBD. No public report has been issued by the department relative to this investigation. The Hon. P.L. WHITE (Minister for Education and Children's Services): In the time that it took the member to ask her question, I checked with the member for Reynell, who chairs the review into that matter, and she informs me that that report was forwarded quite recently, so I expect it to arrive— Ms Chapman interjecting: The Hon. P.L. WHITE: No, it has been forwarded, and I expect it to arrive in my office shortly. I will consider it and, when appropriate, comment on the results. Ms Chapman interjecting: The Hon. P.L. WHITE: As I have said, it has been completed and forwarded to me quite recently. |
E-mail address: flinders.portlincoln@parliament.sa.gov.au
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