March 25, 2013
The State Government will commit an extra $100 million to school repairs on top of the $200 million it committed in last year’s Budget, Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington announced today.
Mrs Frecklington said the “Fixing Our Schools Fund” would target Queensland schools with the biggest maintenance backlogs.
Last year the Government provided every state school with $160,000 to fix existing maintenance issues.
“Thanks to that funding, 13 schools in the South Burnett have so far received more than $1.44m to work on major maintenance issues,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“The extra $100 million will see schools like Blackbutt, Yarraman, Nanango, Kingaroy and Taabinga State Schools, and Nanango and Kingaroy State High Schools, receive the extra funding they need to be revitalised and finally clear their maintenance backlog.”
Mrs Frecklington said the government would clear the maintenance backlogs of 700 Queensland state schools within a year.
She said the government was also making it easier for schools to get the job done by untying maintenance from QBuild and opening it to private providers.
“Early figures suggest that schools are finding efficiencies of up to 20 per cent. That’s five jobs for the price of four,” she said.
Mrs Frecklington said the previous government had left Queensland State schools with a $292 million maintenance backlog that led to Nanango electorate schools falling into disrepair.
“The Fixing Our Schools Fund will ensure Queensland remains a great state with great schools well into the future,” she saif.
