EDUCATION FACILITIES — FUNDING

HON DONNA FARAGHER (East Metropolitan) [10.57 am] — without notice: I move —

That this house —

(1)  recognises the McGowan government’s failure to respond to the continued strong community opposition to its harsh funding cuts impacting education services in regional and metropolitan Western Australia; and

(2)  calls on the government to listen to students, parents and the wider Western Australian community and immediately reverse its unfair decision to close Moora Residential College and the remaining cuts impacting schools and community-based organisations.

[Speeches and comments from various members]

HON ALISON XAMON (North Metropolitan) [11.55 am]: I rise on behalf of the Greens to indicate our support for the motion in front of us. Previously in this place, I have spoken about the Greens’ concern about the decision to close Moora Residential College. I hope that at some point, whether it is because additional moneys become available or simply because the government has a change of heart and reassesses its expenditure priorities, it reverses its decision to close Moora college. It is a highly problematic decision and it is really important that it becomes one of those decisions that the government recognises is, perhaps, not the way forward and shows the gumption to reverse it.

When the announcement to close Moora college was made in December 2017, the government proposed to close two residential colleges—Moora and Northam. It made the right decision to not go ahead with the closure of Northam Residential College, and we need a reversal of the decision to close Moora Residential College as well because it provided enormous relief to the Northam community. The decision to continue with the closure of Moora college is having a detrimental impact on the Moora community and is creating a great deal of distress. I am really concerned that the Minister for Education and Training seems to be digging in despite so much opposition from a such a diverse range of stakeholders, including families and local businesses. I have been getting a lot of correspondence from local businesses within the Moora community as well as past and current students and members of the Country Women’s Association. I acknowledge the passion, commitment and dedication of the Save Moora College group. I am really sorry that it is going through this; it is incredibly distressing. Moora Residential College provides accommodation for students who go to Central Midlands Senior High School and who simply live too far away to commute to school by bus each day. Members must remember that there is no appropriate senior high school close to where they live. As has been said, all children should have the opportunity to live with their parents or as close as possible to their parents for as long as possible before being forced to move to other locations simply to access education. The reality is that Central Midlands is the only public senior high school between the Perth metropolitan area and Geraldton. If the government compromises the capacity of that school to remain open and provide a full suite of services, it will have a hugely detrimental impact. The options advocated by the government as alternatives are, frankly, pretty unrealistic. For example, Yanchep is too far away for many students and it does not have boarding facilities. Moreover, it has no bus route and one has not been costed nor offered by the government. Forcing students to travel more than 1.5 hours one way twice a day on what has been cited as one of the most dangerous roads in Australia is absolutely unacceptable. People are really distressed about this situation and concerned about the impact on current boarders and the school going into the future.

One of the things I particularly want to speak about is the mental health impact of this decision on young people. In an email that was sent to me, it was pointed out that we cannot underestimate the importance of providing facilities that support our young rural students through to adulthood. It also stated that the small number of students at the college allows staff to develop a deep understanding of these kids, with a sense of family being crucial.

This particular bit of correspondence went on to describe the mental health impacts that are likely to arise for future students due to the closure of this college. These are really legitimate community concerns. I am very concerned that this government seems to have taken the position that the concerns about the closure of Moora Residential College are somehow part of a Nationals campaign and are therefore able to be ignored. This is a community concern that has been echoed by multiple parties within this chamber. We have already heard from the Liberal Party. Members are now hearing from the Greens and they are going to hear from One Nation in a moment. A number of parties are very concerned about this and I do not think it is acceptable to somehow ignore this because it is considered to be a political campaign and therefore easily dismissed.

The motion in front of us today also refers to a range of other cuts that have occurred within education circles. No-one else has mentioned it at this point but I particularly want to focus on the appalling decision to close Canning College and Tuart College. For years these colleges have been playing a really essential and important role within the education landscape, particularly providing options for young people who, for a range of reasons, sometimes mental health concerns, sometimes because of trauma that has happened within their families and sometimes just because they are going through difficult times, have not been able to complete their year 11 and 12 studies to the standard that they wanted to in order to open up future options for them . The minister has said, “We don’t need to have these colleges anymore because there are alternative options for people to access university.” That is completely unacceptable. Pathways to university are not the only reason that young people seek to complete their secondary education. This is about allowing pathways for a range of reasons. I could have understood it—I still would have objected—if one of those colleges had been suspended temporarily, but to close both and to remove that entire option for students is a disgraceful decision and one that this government should be looking to urgently reverse. It shows a real lack of understanding of vulnerable young people and of ensuring that our public education system is able to provide as broad a range of options as it possibly can.

Members have already spoken about the unpalatable decisions made on a range of other cuts, including community kindergartens, which were also meant to be about providing a range of opportunities for people. The government is shutting Landsdale Farm School, which is a really important program. People with disabilities have been particularly concerned about this and have expressed distress to me about this closure. The decision to close Herdsman Lake Wildlife Centre was, frankly, short-sighted. As has already been said, we are talking about a long-running, reputable program that has been running on the smell of an oily rag. If we take away the tiny amount of funding that it has been provided, suddenly we have lost so much more. These sorts of decisions are really short-sighted. Once the decision has been made to get rid of these services, it is really hard to build them back up if this or a future government decides to reverse that decision. I am very concerned that these sorts of things are happening. The Australian Labor Party has fundamentally misunderstood why people are so angry about what is happening with the education cuts. I note that the ALP likes to put itself out there as the party for public education. I can tell members now that the feedback coming from the electorate and from talking to people on the ground is that if the ALP makes these sorts of cuts, frankly, it cannot be trusted not to cut other things. This is meant to be core business, yet, clearly, it is not! It is not okay to talk about simply shifting and re-investing additional services into education if the government is getting rid of a range of other really important public educational services that people have a right to expect will continue and into which their taxpayer dollars will go. I really hope that the government starts to listen to this. I hope that the government shows the courage to reverse this decision. In particular, we know there is an immediacy around the closure of Moora Residential College. I think that the government got that decision completely wrong.

[Speeches and comments from various members]

Motion lapsed, pursuant to standing orders.

 

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