News

Education | May 18, 2020

At last! Warracknabeal finally receives the news it has been waiting for

Years of unrelenting advocacy has finally given the Warracknabeal community the outcome it deserves.

The Warracknabeal Education Precinct has secured $19.8 million from the state government, which will ensure every stage of this vital project to co-locate Warracknabeal Secondary College, Warracknabeal Primary School and Warracknabeal Special Development School will be completed.

Member for Lowan Emma Kealy, who has fought alongside the community for more than five years to secure the funding needed for the project, said she was overjoyed to know that the people of Warracknabeal would finally have the education facilities they needed and deserved.

“I congratulate and celebrate with the community, particularly those at the forefront of the campaign to finish this hugely important project. To everyone involved with the Finish What You Started campaign, teachers, parents, students and the wider community who never gave up – this achievement is testament to your dedication,” she said.

“This project to rebuild the secondary college, primary school and special development school will give students and teachers the opportunity to learn and educate in facilities that are modern, fit-for-purpose and engaging.

“Among the new buildings will be a gallery, art space and sensory area in the special development school, a manual activities building for senior secondary college students, and a central administration area, gym and function room for the three schools.

“This project is one of the biggest rebuilds ever undertaken in our electorate, and its importance cannot be overstated.

“Every student, whether they live in the country or the city, deserves the opportunity to learn in a first-class environment. The new Warracknabeal Education Precinct will ensure this, while also helping to attract new families to the town to help the community continue to grow and prosper.”

In the past five years, Ms Kealy has raised the Warracknabeal Education Precinct 132 times in Parliament and made countless representations to the Minister for Education, consistently urging the government to recognise the project’s importance and commit the full funding amount needed to complete every stage.

She said while money for the second and third stages of the project should have flowed much sooner, she was pleased the government had finally listened.

“To everyone in the Warracknabeal community who has fought so hard for so long, thank you for your dedication. You’ve done it.”