A Harvey Liberal Government will commit $25 million to Stage 1 of a rebuild which will provide state-of-the-art facilities for Rossmoyne Senior High School.
Opposition leader Liza Harvey said the announcement reflected the Liberals’ willingness to invest in education.
“This highlights the commitment of the Liberal Government to a significant upgrade of school infrastructure as part of our Five-Year COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan,” Ms Harvey said.
“We value the role of education in our local communities,so it is important we provide the students at Rossmoyne Senior High School with the first-class facilities they deserve to enhance their learning environment. Our youth are our future.”
Liberal candidate for Riverton Anthony Spagnolo said Rossmoyne Senior High School was worthy of the significant investment and criticised the Labor Government for snubbing the project.
“Since becoming the Liberal candidate for Riverton I have made fighting for local schools my number one focus,” he said.
“As a local, I know how important education is to Riverton families. Many move here to get their children into Rossmoyne or Willetton high school zones –so it’s my job to back them in. I was delighted to commit $12.5 million to Stage 3 of the Willetton SHS upgrade when Liza visited Riverton in August. Labor embarrassingly scrambled to match our Willetton commitment days later.
“The Liberals’$25 million commitment to Stage 1 of the Rossmoyne SHS upgrade now brings our total commitment to high schools in Riverton to $37.5 million.
“This announcement is an example of the Liberals’ strong commitment to maintaining nation-leading education facilities for families in Riverton.
“It is clear from my visits to the school that it is facing a number of serious challenges in coming years as a result of increasing enrolments.
“There is a major issue with the lack of available space for additional temporary classrooms while the school waits for funding for this major building project.”
Mr Spagnolo said Labor had the opportunity to fund the Rossmoyne SHS project in the recent State Budget and chose not to, despite delivering a surplus of nearly $2 billion.
“Labor are aware of the problems at Rossmoyne but their most recent State Budget had no money for the school for at least the next four years,” he said.
“I think Labor are hoping to scoot through the whole election campaign without having to make any significant funding commitments to Rossmoyne. This just shows that they don’t get the priorities of local families here in Riverton. Rossmoyne is renowned nationally for its academic excellence, which is why the Liberals are delighted to provide the $25 million commitment which would allow students to have the modern facilities they deserve so they can continue to deliver strong education outcomes.”
Ms Harvey said the Stage 1 rebuild of Rossmoyne Senior High School would benefit the local community.
“This $25 million investment would also provide a major boost to the local economy in the Riverton electorate because it will create jobs, which under the Liberals’ Local Jobs Guarantee prioritises that local suppliers will be given preferential consideration on all State Government contracts,” she said.