Mr GERARD MARTIN (Bathurst) [1.35 p.m.]: Last Thursday, 26 February 2009, the Hon. Verity Firth, Minister for Education and Training, visited my electorate. It was her first opportunity to take a comprehensive look at the Bathurst electorate and I am sure she liked what she saw, particularly in relation to public education. The day started at Carenne Special School, where I joined the Minister in turning the sod to mark the commencement of a $2.3 million capital works upgrade program. Carenne Special School caters for the most vulnerable students in our community and over the past 30-odd years probably has developed the benchmark for special education in New South Wales. As she toured the school and met parents, students and staff, the Minister was impressed by the love and care the students receive. The compassionate way in which the very high needs of some students are managed and the innovative programs are delivered certainly makes a difference to their lives. The capital works program will enhance the school environment.

The Minister also met members of Carenne Support Ltd, an organisation formed to support and work with the school to supply transport and therapy services. Later the Minister visited Denison College, which is the senior college developed in Bathurst over the past couple of years through combining Kelso and Bathurst high schools. We now are able to offer 90 subjects to year 12 students studying for their Higher School Certificates. The school operates on the two separate campuses, providing students with transport between campuses. The model works extremely well under Kathy Compton, principal at Denison College; Geoff Hastings, principal at Bathurst High School; and Paul Stirling, principal of Kelso High School.

While at the Bathurst campus the Minister saw the result of the State Government's recent $600,000 investment in new food technology facilities and new security fencing. Subsequently, the Minister and I visited Bathurst TAFE, where Murray Jewkes, head of the campus, took us on an inspection tour of the achievements funded from the $6.5 million that this Government has provided over the past 12 months. We met students in the enrolled nurses course and then visited the hospitality section, which has recently had installed a new commercial kitchen that would be the envy of any commercial enterprise anywhere in Australia. We then moved to the automotive section, which has just received an upgrade of facilities and is one of the leading automotive technical colleges in New South Wales—appropriately situated in the shadow of Mount Panorama.

The Minister hosted an afternoon tea for the principals of the Bathurst district at which she received an explanation of the mechanics of the stimulus package from the Rudd Federal Government and the Rees Labor Government that will invest $3.5 billion in education in New South Wales over the next couple of years. The school principals reacted enthusiastically: they understand the scope of the challenge but none of them thought it was possible. The package, to be managed by this Government and its Minister, will see the largest injection of capital works funding in our schools since Federation.

At the end of the day I took the Minister to Kelso Public School, where she met principal Suzanne Colley and Roz Hedges, who runs the innovative Schools in Our Community program that aims to get more local indigenous youth into school. The program also brings parents into the school community, and many of them have formed into groups such as the playgroup. A TAFE outreach group also attends the school and has introduced many parents to further education.

It has become a social stimulus for not only the school but also the Kelso community, where there have been problems on the housing estates with our indigenous population. The scheme is working and is currently being reviewed. I recommend to the Minister and to the Government that we maintain skill levels in our community because they make a difference.