Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria)– In the last two sitting weeks I have raised the issue of the physical state of the Timboon P-12 School. I recently made a visit to the school, and the local newspapers have published a number of articles clearly outlining the deplorable state of the physical amenities. We now have a situation where the physical state of the school has been discussed on national radio, and it was also covered on ABC 774 this morning, which I heard on my way to Parliament. The school has been evacuated as a result of an inspection by WorkSafe Victoria which revealed asbestos that needs to be removed. That has left students, staff and parents high and dry. It will have a particularly negative impact on the Victorian certificate of education students, who are under significant academic pressure.
The state of disrepair at this school is not new.
It was recognised by the Labor government, which is why Labor signed off on a $6.4 million stage 1 redevelopment of the school. But this government has redirected that money to other schools. The member for Polwarth in the other place, Terry Mulder, has not once seriously advocated for Timboon P-12 School, and now will not even return calls — —
Honourable members interjecting.
The PRESIDENT — Order! Members will be aware that during members statements in particular, given there is a limited amount of time allowed, I believe members ought to be able to proceed with their statements without interjection or at least with a minimum of commentary or interjection from other members, remembering that interjections as a whole are unparliamentary or disorderly. To have a barrage of interjections on a 90-second statement is just not acceptable.
If members feel that it is necessary to take issue with some of the points being made in a 90-second statement, there are other mechanisms within the Parliament to do so. If I hear any more noise during Ms Tierney’s contribution, I will ask her to take it from the top and we will hear it again.
Ms TIERNEY — Terry Mulder, MP, has not once seriously advocated for Timboon P-12 school and now will not even return calls, including calls from the media. That is what it is like for a rural community to be taken for granted by this government. Surely the local member, Terry Mulder, would have at least demanded a forensic report on the state of the buildings years ago? But no, he cannot even get his lines organised when talking to the local community or the media. He has gone missing, whilst we have a serious issue in Timboon with safety and physical dislocation impacts on the local school community.
As I asked in my members statement yesterday: when will this government get serious about asbestos? The time for excuses has passed.
Honourable members interjecting.
The PRESIDENT — Order! I will decide if it is time. Because of the level of interjections I was prepared to allow some leeway, and on occasions I have allowed other members some leeway in the proceedings because of the circumstances in which they were making their contributions.