Construction projects at 15 SA schools delayed by up to two years, Opposition says

Desperately-needed construction projects at several SA schools have been delayed leaving some looking more like construction sites. See the list.

Construction projects at 15 South Australian schools have been delayed by up to two years, the State Opposition claims.

Many of the schools, which include Pimpala Primary and Seaview Downs Primary, were in urgent need of an upgrade, said Liberal education spokesman John Gardner.

Between the 15 schools, construction had been delayed by a total of 12 years since last year’s budget, Mr Gardner said.

He said the Labor government was prioritising schools that were included in its election promises.

“The fact is, in last year’s budget, the Labor Party … decided to invest only in its political priorities and not in those schools that were identified by the department as being in the greatest need,” Mr Gardner said.

“Now in this year’s budget, we see schools that have previously been identified as being in urgent need, pushed back.”

But Education Minister Blair Boyer said the Opposition was “trying to rewrite history”.

He said several of the projects named by the Opposition were funded by Labor five years ago – and either never completed or started by the previous Liberal government.

“We have inherited those projects and in many cases have had to put more funding towards them so the originally commitment made all those years ago can actually be delivered as promised,” Mr Boyer said.

Mr Gardner claimed three of the projects have been pushed out by 21 months – including the $15 million upgrade at Seaview Downs and $12 million upgrade of Pimpala, which the Education Department identified two years ago among their highest priority sites.

Findon High School in Adelaide. Picture: AAP / Morgan Sette

SA SCHOOLS HIT BY CONSTRUCTION DELAYS

■ Pimpala Primary

■ Seaview Downs Primary

■ Valley View Secondary

■ East Marden Primary

■ Fregon Anangu School

■ Black Forest Primary

■ Nailsworth Primary

■ Reidy Park Primary

■ Settler’s Farm Primary

■ Westbourne Park Primary

■ Findon High

■ Roma Mitchell College

■ Salisbury East High

■ Eastern Fleurieu R-12

■ Murray Bridge North School

The Pimpala and Seaview Downs projects were supposed to have been completed by the end of this year, but were now not due for completion until 2025, Mr Gardner said.

The Malinauskas government included $100m for school infrastructure in last week’s state budget, but only $20m of that was new money.

MAJOR CAPITAL WORKS UPGRADES IN THE STATE BUDGET

MINOR CAPITAL WORKS UPGRADES IN THE STATE BUDGET

Valley View Secondary and East Marden Primary will each have a nine-month holdup, while the completion date for the long-awaited Fregon Anangu School upgrade has been set back by more than a year.

The state government said $15.7 million was committed to Fregon Anangu School in the APY Lands by Labor in 2017 and should have been delivered by the Liberals in December 2021.

Delays will also affect Black Forest, Nailsworth, Reidy Park, Settler’s Farm and Westbourne Park primary schools; Findon, Roma Mitchell and Salisbury East high schools; the Eastern Fleurieu R-12 and Murray Bridge North School.

The Elliston RSL Memorial Children’s Centre relocation has also suffered a nine-month setback.