On Monday, 23 April, I represented the Minister for Skills, Education Services and Employment in the other place, Jacinta Allan, in opening the Colac Primary School’s new and refurbished school buildings. The state government contributed nearly $692 000 to the cost of this work. In addition to the refurbishment, the new buildings and new computers, there is also a new basketball court, staff car park and water tanks.
I thank Colac Primary School, the principal, Mr Halliwell, teachers, support staff, parents and students for their efforts and the $15 000 fundraising contribution. The school assembly of the morning was driven by school captain Jessica Casey, and all students were actively involved. I thank those involved in Colac Primary School for giving me the privilege of sharing their joy.
This week Colac had another good reason to celebrate, and again it concerned education. On Tuesday the Treasurer, Mr Brumby, announced a $5 million commitment for a new Colac secondary school. The excitement in the town was well characterised in the Colac Herald of Wednesday, which ran the banner headline ‘Millions to initiate secondary merger’. The mayor, Cr Ritchie, said, ‘It’s a really great day for education in the Colac district’ and the principal of Colac College, Richard Cooper, was quoted as saying, ‘It’s not just the schools benefiting, it’s the wider community’. I look forward to being involved in each step of the secondary school’s construction.
I am proud to be part of this government, a government that makes sure that rural and regional Victoria really does matter.