Festive cheer

DEPUTY Premier Peter Ryan will lobby for Korumburra Secondary College’s ailing buildings to be rebuilt if he is re-elected at next November’s state election.

In announcing he will recontest his seat of Gippsland South, Mr Ryan said he wants to initiate a master plan for the redevelopment of the school to determine what facilities are needed and the cost.
“That is one of my priorities for the next term,” Mr Ryan told The Star.
However Mr Ryan will begin preliminary work as early as next year, meeting with the college community and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
“The general state of repair of the school leaves a lot to be desired,” he said.
“The staff do a magnificent job, providing the education levels that they do. The students need to be educated in a facility that is much more contemporary and I’m looking to continue what has been done at Leongatha, Foster and Mirboo North (secondary colleges).
“We will get a fantastic result for the community.”
Korumburra Secondary College services not only Korumburra, but communities as far as Loch, Nyora and Poowong, where the population is growing.
Mr Ryan said the department would need to consider the appropriateness of the existing site to cater for an expanding school community.
Mr Ryan last week revealed he would recontest the seat he has held since 1992, expressing a desire to complete unfinished business. That includes improving the region’s roads.

“We recognise roads are an issue for us. We will continue to pour as many resources as possible into what is a critical issue for people in the electorate,” he said.
Labor recently claimed it would spend $1 billion on regional roads a year, but Mr Ryan said that amount would actually be spent over eight years, equating to $125 million a year.
Mr Ryan said 21 road maintenance projects were scheduled for the electorate from early in the New Year.
Creating regional jobs will be a focus to support local economies, particularly in South Gippsland by supporting the dairy industry and through such initiatives as the $1 billion Regional Growth Fund.
“The unemployment rate in regional Victoria is five per cent, which is one of the lowest in all Australia’s regions,” he said.
Mr Ryan pledged South Gippslanders would have adequate healthcare services, and properly resourced police and fire fighters, with the official opening of new fire stations at Meeniyan and Poowong scheduled for early next year.
Mr Ryan said The Nationals provided a strong voice for regional Victorians and had been working in partnership with communities to secure funding for rural Victoria.
“In Gippsland, I have been proud to deliver more than 100 projects, including $20 million of the $32 million cost of the new Leongatha Hospital, nearly $18 million for the new Sale Police Station, $10 million for the Gippsland Lakes, $10 million for Leongatha Secondary College, $7.5 million for Mirboo North Secondary College, $2 million for the Gippsland Southern Rail Trail, and an array of other initiatives, each of which has particular significance to the communities concerned,” he said.
“The Victorian Coalition Government has extended the moratorium on fracking, banned BTEX chemicals, initiated the biggest underground water study in the state’s history and clearly stated it will never risk our underground water, our farmland or our natural assets.
“The issue of coal seam gas must also be handled in a careful and considered manner, as the Victorian Coalition Government has done. The community must be listened to.
“The 23 fracks performed under Labor were done in Gippsland South without community consultation or notification.
“It has been an honour to serve the people of Victoria and Gippsland South and I will work hard to be given the chance to do it again.”
Mr Ryan will be Acting Premier from Christmas Day until the middle of January.
Mr Ryan said his wife Trish supported his decision to restand. The couple has three children: Sarah, James and Julian.

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Posted by Jacob De Kunder on Dec 24 2013. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry