Bunbury, Picton, Maidens Park and Dardanup schools to benefit from $24 million election pledge from WA Labor

WA Labor has promised a $24 million package to deliver new and improved school infrastructure across the South West. The student support centre at Bunbury Primary School has been promised $1.3m. Construction of a new multi-purpose space is on the cards. Outside of Bunbury, $1.4m would be used to upgrade air conditioning at Dardanup Primary School and a further $1m would go towards similar upgrades at Picton Primary School. Maidens Park Primary School in Withers would also benefit from an expanded out-of-school care service on site so parents don’t have to rely on services at locations away from the school. Bunbury MLA Don Punch said Bunbury Primary School had advocated for an improved student support centre, rebutting questions as to why the much-needed infrastructure formed part of the election campaign rather than usual State Government work. “The school raised this with me early last year and it’s something that we’ve had on the radar,” he said. “There’s a lot of planning that goes into this, and there’s also work that we have in progress, so our election commitments are almost like the next stage of the strategic plan, and this is an important part of that plan, and that’s why we’re rolling it out and making (this re-election commitment). “Since I was elected in 2017, we’ve had a rolling program of schools that were neglected by the previous government. This has been a rolling program. It is not a quick cash grab. We have a very strong view about education.” Education Minister Tony Buti said WA Labor wanted “every WA student to have the best possible education, no matter where they live”. “We are the second biggest geographical education jurisdiction in the world,” he said. “$4.8 billion has been invested by the McGowan/Cook governments since 2017 so it’s not that we have just suddenly made an announcement. “Minister Punch — local member for Bunbury Don Punch — has been advocating this incredibly strongly since it was brought to his attention. I can tell you, he has been annoying in regards to this. “He has constantly been at me in regards to this to be funded. This was competing against many other projects, and it’s a testament to the local member’s advocacy that this has been funded in this round.” The pair were in Bunbury on Thursday to make the announcement.