Qld government rules out new public school for Whitsundays in 40-year-backflip
The state government has denied a Queensland coastal region desperately needs a new primary and high school despite politicians noting its urgency some 40 years ago. DETAILS
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The state government has disagreed the Whitsundays desperately needs a new primary and high school despite politicians reportedly noting its urgency 40 years ago.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to move into the corridor between Proserpine and Shute Harbour over the next two decades but there is presently only one public state school to service that stretch, being in Cannonvale.
Whitsunday Regional Council has for years lobbied the Department of Education to open more. Incumbent councillor Jan Clifford said she had “been in their ear since 2000”, in particular to advocate for a high school so children did not have to commute to Proserpine and back each day.
Ms Clifford said she “feel(s) sorry for these kids” as time spent on buses stripped them of opportunities for extra-curricular activities.
A council study in 2021 revealed primary school enrolment numbers across the Greater Airlie Beach area grew by 6.7 per cent each annum in the 10 years to 2016, with high school figures at 5.8 per cent per year.
This was compared to just 0.1 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively for Proserpine.
‘Obvious imbalance’ between Proserpine and Greater Airlie Beach
In a submission following the study, a resident questioned how this “obvious imbalance” of school infrastructure was allowed to occur given in 1980, then Minister for Education Val Bird noted coastal growth strongly indicated Cannonvale needed its own high school.
The state government’s own data shows enrolment numbers at numbers at Proserpine State School have risen almost 12 per cent from 2018 to 2023 with Cannonvale State School spiking by 33 per cent from 2015 to 2019.
But despite the council in 2021 lobbying the state government to take action, three years on a DOE spokesman said their analysis of the Whitsundays did not identify a need for another school.
The spokesman said the state government monitored growth across Queensland to address emerging needs in its commitment to “providing all students access to high-quality learning opportunities” with projections released in 2023 showing the current school network could cater for growth to 2041.
Schools are ‘bursting at the seams’: Clifford
Mum Kahlina Steele - whose sons Nixon, 9, and Jasper, 4 - attend Cannonvale State School, said her family may have to relocate if the school shortage was not resolved.
Ms Steele said Nixon suffered from car sickness and so travelling to Proserpine High School posed an issue with the only other option of choosing a private school a costly exercise with multiple children.
Ms Clifford said it was not enough to only have one public primary school in the Greater Airlie Beach area with Cannonvale “bursting at the seams”.
“Not everyone can afford to send their kids to a private school, there just needs to be an alternative,” she said, adding she could not see why the government could not open a new school over a gradual one new cohort per year basis.
“Something’s got to be done and something’s got to be done fairly quickly to alleviate the situation … and I think now is the perfect time to have a really good go at them because there’s an election coming,” she said.
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