Help needed for Box Hill TAFE after arson attack

Hansard: 11 March 2008 ASSEMBLY

Mr CLARK (Box Hill) — I raise with the Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation the issue of the arson attack that took place at the Box Hill Institute of TAFE shortly before midnight on the evening of Saturday, 8 March. I ask the minister to do whatever she and her department can to assist Box Hill TAFE to recover from the fire. It appears that someone deliberately ignited a number of wheelie bins next to a window on the ground floor of one of the buildings of the TAFE Whitehorse campus.

This appalling action has caused quite extensive damage, albeit fortunately confined largely to a stairwell area. But the stairwell is in a central part of the main building known as building no. 1 of the Whitehorse campus. When one looks at the damage one sees that the fire has spread through a window or a broken door, up through the stairwell and over multiple levels.

According to the police report, it damaged four levels of the stairwell and adjoining rooms. It has also damaged cabling and windows, many of which shattered as a result of the heat, and a lift. The police estimate put the damage in excess of $250 000 but the preliminary feedback I have received is that that estimate is likely to be on the modest side.

As I mentioned, the damage has occurred at a central point of the main building of the TAFE Whitehorse campus and is therefore causing considerable disruption to student and staff movement. The college has been engaged in a speedy effort to get the building functional again. I do not need say that Box Hill Institute of TAFE has had a remarkable record of success under governments of both persuasions, and it has traditionally enjoyed strong bipartisan support for its outstanding achievements. The Whitehorse campus hosts centres including industry, education and training; media, design and arts; performing arts; and vocational access and education.

One of the dilemmas facing the college in trying to deal with the damage is that it has plans before government for the redevelopment of this campus. The question is to what extent they spend money to repair the damage and to what extent that money would be wasted or have a very short lifetime if more extensive redevelopment is likely to be undertaken.

I therefore ask the minister to do her best — and I am sure she will — to ensure that speedy decisions are made on any issues that are referred to her or her department by Box Hill TAFE, because clearly it is in everybody’s interest to ensure that limited resources are spent in the most effective manner on behalf of the community and that resources are not wasted if they are going to be superseded by other projects that are to commence shortly.