LNP Rockhampton candidate Donna Kirkland commits to Gracemere High
Another aspiring politician, vying for a Labor safe seat, says she’ll back a new high school in one of Central Queensland’s fastest growing communities after the latest push fell flat in Brisbane’s corridors of power. There’s just one catch.
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Another politician, vying for a Labor safe seat, has joined the latest calls for a high school in a growing community after the refreshed call fell on deaf ears.
The community has been pushing for its own high school for almost 30 years, during which time a 3000 signature petition was presented to parliament, and two campaigns for new high schools in Central Queensland were run with Calliope, which has a third of Gracemere’s population, won.
The Department of Education responded to questions sent by The Morning Bulletin last week about a high school at Gracemere, saying the department did not currently have plans to open a new state secondary school in Gracemere based on projected population growth, while the Labor Party candidate Craig Marshall wants to form a committee to look into the regions education needs.
Mrs Strelow had commented the Calliope high school had been a political commitment rather than a numbers-based need.
This week, Liberal National Party candidate for the seat of Rockhampton, and former Rockhampton councillor, Donna Kirkland, has thrown her support behind a high school at Gracemere, but did not commit to one by 2028.
When asked about the 2028 commitment, Ms Kirkland reacted to the lack of commitment by the Labor Party/ State Government.
“It is incredibly disappointing that the local Labor member has not progressed a high school in Gracemere, given the Palaszczuk/Miles Government have been in power for over nine years,” she said.
“This Labor Government has taken us for granted and haven’t paid attention to community services in a community that has continued to grow to over 12,000 people.
“I will continue to fight to get this on the agenda.
“I support the construction of a high school in Gracemere, and will campaign for a high school to be built if an LNP Government is elected.”
The refreshed call for a high school has come from parents concerned about overcrowded buses, high student to teacher rations in classrooms, bullying and the overstimulation of children before they even get to a classroom.
Gracemere parent Jessica Lahrs, who has started a new Facebook group this year, called Gracemere needs a high school, said parents had serious concerns nothing was being done and hadn’t been done for many years to address the issues of overcrowded school buses, bullying on those buses and children “getting lost in the big schools”.
How Gracemere has grown
Gracemere recorded a population of 12,031 persons in 2021, an impressive leap compared to the population recorded 20 years earlier in 2001 of 4,454.
The population of Gracemere grew from 8,401 in 2011 to 12,031 in 2021 (according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics) and is expected to grow to 14,756 in 2031, an increase of 4.8 per cent, according to the Rockhampton Regional Council’s Economic Profile by Economy.id, which uses a mix of ABS and Census data for its projections.
The InfoTrack property market update for quarter three 2023 named the top 10 locations with the highest volume of house sales from July 1 to September 30 with Gracemere at the top.
More than half of the Gracemere properties sold during that period, 52 per cent, were between $300,000 and $400,000.
It is the second consecutive quarter Gracemere has appeared in the top 10, moving from sixth place in quarter two.
Gracemere Shoppingworld revealed plans for an expansion at the centre which will include 500+ more carparks, a basement level, a children’s playground, taxi and bus rank, discount department store, specialty tenancies food court and outdoor dining.
A Hungry Jack’s is under construction and now plans have been proposed to build a neighbouring Zarraffa’s Coffee drive-through.
The department of education figures
A department spokesman said the department did not currently have plans to open a new state secondary school in Gracemere based on state secondary student population of Gracemere projected to grow to only about 800 students by 2046 and the threshold for the department was “a stable enrolment of 1500 to 1800 students to ensure the school can deliver a broad, modern curriculum”.
“It is also important to ensure that sufficient enrolments are retained in existing schools in the local network upon the opening of a new school,” the spokesman said.
They said ongoing analysis to inform demand and new schools planning through the Queensland Schools Planning Reference Committee.
Meanwhile, the Labor Party candidate for the Rockhampton seat is neither for nor against a high school by 2028, but rather has a different plan to the department to determine the education needs in the region.
“This week (April 5) I wrote to Di Farmer MP, Minister for Education and Minister for Youth Justice to advocate for the Gracemere community and advised the Minister that I would be forming a Rockhampton and Gracemere Future Schools Community Working Group to meet with stakeholders to analyse the issues and concerns raised,” he said.
“There are many considerations, both for families and our educators, and I’m keen to engage with stakeholders and the state government to identify that the community is fully supported and a part of planning to deliver a future high school in the area.
“By commencing a working group, I will be investigating the need for a high school in Gracemere and possible impact on our current schools, educators and families and ensure all children across Rockhampton and Gracemere are provided with great educational opportunities.
“The first step towards this is for an informed discussion with existing schools in Gracemere and the High Schools that they currently travel to daily throughout the school year.”
History of commitments from candidates
The community has been calling for a high school to be built at Gracemere for almost three decades with a petition with more than 3000 signatures presented to then Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek in 2012.
It was presented to parliament by the then Rockhampton MP Bill Byrne, who was hopeful of building support for the proposed high school.
By this stage, the Gracemere Community Voice – a local group working together to address the needs of the Gracemere community – had tried to build support for a secondary school for almost 15 years.
Land has already been set aside for a high school on the corner of Johnson Road and Lucas Street.
During this time, there were two campaigns in Central Queensland to build high schools in satellite suburbs – at Calliope and Gracemere.
Calliope, which had a lower population and was about the same distance from its nearest public high school, won the campaign with a commit by the State Government in 2018 and the school opened for business in 2020.
In 2021, the population of Calliope was 5,263, an increase of 1,057 people across the 10-year Census period.
Mrs Strelow said that was a political commitment rather than a numbers-based commitment.
She said she and the community now called for “a common sense, numbers driven, commitment”.
“We’ve gone beyond the stage of begging,” Mrs Strelow said.
“It has reached the point where both the government and the Opposition need to explain to the Gracemere community why they still haven’t got their long promised high school.”
During the 2020 state election campaign, many candidates and political parties publicly announced their support for a high school at Gracemere sooner rather than later.
Katter’s Australian Party’s Christian Shepherd was one.
He said Gracemere residents had been neglected for too long.
“Rockhampton boasts nine high schools with a population of around 70,000. Mount Morgan also has a high school, despite having an approximate population of just 2000,” Mr Shepherd said.
NQ First Leader and Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan affirmed his pledge in 2020 to build a ‘stand alone’ high school at Gracemere, southwest of Rockhampton, if NQ First had the balance of power after the election.
One Nation added schools in Emu Park and Gracemere to its growing list of election promises.
LNP candidate Tony Hopkins has also stated his intentions on the issue.
“The Gracemere community is growing and the government needs to ensure that the infrastructure that our community needs is provided and if I’m elected I will be fighting hard for (the Gracemere high school).”
Mrs Strelow said former Rockhampton councillor Ellen Smith was able to present a case for the Gracemere High School at a recent Community Cabinet meeting.
Mrs Strelow said the State Government set out a commission to look at future demand for high schools in Queensland and a document published in 2020 stated Queensland needed one or two new high schools for Gracemere by 2031.
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