Asbestos in 1200 Victorian state schools would be removed by 2020 under an “ambitious” $100 million Labor Party plan.
Again visiting a marginal sand-belt seat, Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews made a pitch to parents, vowing to conduct a full audit of state government schools to identify asbestos and remove it.
The Sunday Age reported this week that teachers and principals had made an election-eve plea for asbestos to be fully removed from all schools after a secret state government audit found some are so plagued with the material that buildings need to be cordoned off or cleaned up immediately.
Of the 368 audits released, only 30 schools were asbestos-free.
Under Mr Andrews’ plan, $50 million would be spent on audits and removing asbestos that posed an immediate risk to students and teachers.
Another $50 million would be spent to accelerate the retirement and replacement of 250 old portable classrooms which are not part of Labor’s $510 million capital works program already outlined.
Labor conceded it was an “ambitious target” and that $100 million was a down payment for the first stage.
Labor education spokesman James Merlino said the Napthine government had dropped the ball on asbestos in schools over the past four years.
“What kind of message does it send to parents and to school communities that you have stickers across our school buildings, across Victoria, saying there is deadly asbestos and then do nothing about it?” Mr Merlino said.
But the Coalition said the plan was an under-costed hoax and Mr Andrews did not understand the facts.
“If ‘Dodgy Dan’ had proper costings, he would know that the cost of removing asbestos from schools is closer to $1 billion than $100 million,” a Coalition spokesman said.
“If he did his homework he would know that there are hundreds of audits of schools, and under this government funding for asbestos removal has more than doubled.”
The government said schools had asbestos management plans and conducted three-monthly checks, with training provided to key staff.
Victorian Principals Association president Gabrielle Leigh welcomed the announcement, and said principals would be pleased a government would finally take responsibility for asbestos in schools.
“I’m hoping $100 million actually covers it. We’ve been calling on the government about asbestos and asbestos labelling and how schools need support for this,” she said.
Ms Leigh said schools didn’t have the resources to properly deal with the problem.
Oakleigh Primary School and Kindergarten would be one of the beneficiaries of the funding.
Principal Jack Fisher said the asbestos had to be constantly monitored in case of damage.
“This has been an ongoing issue for many decades,” he said.
Mr Fisher said removing asbestos in government schools was just the tip of the iceberg.
“I’m conscious of the fact that asbestos is most likely in a number of public buildings, including early childhood centres, kindergartens, independent schools, community centres and other government buildings,” he said.
This story first appeared in The Age
