It has been my great pleasure to open two new facilities in the Pine Rivers area over the past couple of weeks. In mid May, I addressed special guests and senior students at Genesis Christian College at the opening of stage 13 of their campus. In the relatively short span of 18 years, the college has grown to a student body of over 1,000 from prep to year 12 as well as 75 children in the Little Genesis child-care centre. The college captains, Christopher du Plessis and Tara Kingi, spoke to the gathering and conducted the prayers and bible readings. The national anthem was sung by Rebecca Small.

Education is a partnership and Education Queensland has worked closely with the college to provide more than $4 million in recurrent funding over the past three years and almost $2.5 million in capital funding over the past five years. The new administration building was funded by the state and federal governments, each contributing over $600,000, and the school put in more than $2 million, which is an impressive achievement for the Bray Park Christian community.

The Queensland government is committed to a world-class education sector that offers our young people every opportunity to reach their potential. To that end, I was also pleased to attend Pine Rivers Special School two weeks ago with Mary-Anne O’Neill, the member for Kallangur, to officially open their new building, which contains four classrooms, a therapy area, staff planning area, withdrawal areas, toilets for students and staff, a laundry and a covered outdoor learning area. This block was funded between the state and commonwealth governments by almost $2 million.

The school captains, Neil and Theresa, welcomed us to the school and spoke to the assembled special guests, students and parents. We enjoyed coffee and cake prepared and served by the students in their own on-site cafe. It was a lovely afternoon.

The school motto at Pine Rivers Special School is ‘Yes We Can’, which they were using long before Barack Obama did. It reflects a fierce determination and a can-do spirit that empowers students to aim for a personal best. I know the 88 staff members at Pine Rivers Special School work hard to give their students-all 176 of them-the very best educational outcomes that they can, especially when it comes to post-school options. They have a passion for inspiring their students to achieve and that often means going above and beyond what is expected of them. I commend everyone involved in the Pine Rivers Special School.