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Education | August 22, 2019

Kealy - Labor leaves local students in asbestos ridden schools

The Andrews Labor Government is leaving students and teachers at a number of local schools working in classrooms known to contain asbestos.

The schools are some of the 1300 schools across Victoria identified as having Class A3 asbestos in a recent Budget report, meaning the asbestos is predominantly found in the building eaves or in the sheeting in classroom walls.

The Nationals Member for Lowan Emma Kealy has visited many of these schools and seen firsthand the desperately unsafe conditions that teachers and students are working in, with known asbestos in many of the buildings. 

Daniel Andrews promised in 2014 to remove all known asbestos from schools ‘because our kids health and safety means everything’.

“Apparently this promise didn’t apply to kids in Lowan, with 28 local schools identified as having Class A3 asbestos and no money in the Andrews Labor Government’s budget to continue Victoria’s school asbestos program post 1 July 2019,” Ms Kealy said.

“It’s bad enough that many of our local students and teachers are working in classrooms in desperate need of repair, but for Labor to think it’s okay to allow them to continue to work in asbestos ridden classrooms is just outrageous.

“Removing asbestos from all Victorian schools is obviously not the priority Daniel Andrews pretended it was in 2014.

“Labor have already broken their promise to provide capital funding for Baimbridge College in Hamilton and won’t fund the completion of the Warracknabeal Education Precinct, leaving these schools in limbo.

“And now just to rub salt into the wound they won’t fund the removal of A3 asbestos in Baimbridge College, Warracknabeal Primary School and Warracknabeal Secondary College and 25 of our other local schools.

“What kind of message does it send to parents and school communities when you have stickers across school buildings saying there is deadly asbestos and then do nothing about it?

“I am calling on the Andrews Government to stop neglecting our local schools and allocate funding to have known asbestos removed from all western Victorian schools immediately.”