Mr HUNT (7:45 PM) —I rise on behalf of the residents and parents of the town of Somerville within my electorate of Flinders to condemn the decision—and the inaction—of the state government of Victoria, the Bracks government, not to complete the Somerville Secondary College in time for students to commence study in 2005. This decision has been conveyed to me in a letter received by the Somerville Secondary College steering group from the state government in the last couple of days. The letter from Ethel McAlpine, the General Manager of the School Resources Division in the department of education, says:

The people of Somerville have fought, worked, struggled, believed and won the fight to get the school built. That fight was won almost two years ago. It was a tremendous result for Somerville, which is in desperate need of a secondary college. It has a high number of children of secondary school age—well over 1,000—and yet this school is going to be delayed. The problems which have now finally been acknowledged by the state have been in existence for almost a year and have been unaddressed. They and their local members have been asleep at the wheel. Normally I like to speak with generosity in this place, but it was promised to the people of Somerville that this school would begin next year, in 2005. Parents and students alike have suffered a terrible blow. As one parent, a member of the Somerville Secondary College steering committee, wrote to me:

The parent goes on:

What has happened is that the school has been delayed and the community has been given no notice, no warning and no preparation. Something which is fundamental to a growing, budding, emerging town such as Somerville has been taken away from them. But my view is very clear: the community are not powerless. We fought to prevent the Somerville Secondary College land being sold. After that we fought to ensure that there was a guarantee that the school would be built, and we won. In addition to that we have received $2 million in promised federal funding. That funding will sit idle. I will personally guarantee that it will be delivered and that under no circumstances will it be taken away. Instead that funding sits idle as the state fails to build the school that it promised.

What action can we take as a community? There are three things that we can do. We can force the state to build the school. We can force the state to build the Somerville Secondary College in time for the families of Somerville to have their children attend that school in 2005. Firstly, as a community we have to get together a strong and clear voice through petitions which we will be issuing to people in each of the areas of Somerville. I will be asking people to sign petitions to the Premier, saying, `Build Somerville Secondary College now, Mr Bracks, in time for 2005.' Secondly, we must take the fight, the argument and the belief that this school is indispensable up to the state government. It is due for Somerville by 2005. Thirdly, if we have to, we should take the message to parliament. Let us walk on the state parliament if they will not get work under way and build the school. It is easily solved. Day after day the site sits empty, with nobody there. What has happened is a great blow to the people of Somerville, but I believe that if we work and struggle together and make the case we can ensure that the Somerville Secondary College is built by 2005. I make my commitment and I give my passion to ensuring that the school is built.