Department blunder adds to community frustration over East Brisbane school’s future
Campaigners for East Brisbane State School have been dealt another frustrating blow after a statement incorrectly implying the long-running battle to save the heritage-listed school had been won was published yesterday.
The Department of State Development and Infrastructure provided a five-line statement to News Corp-owned The Sunday Mail for a piece that was due to run in the print edition of the newspaper on Sunday, July 7.
Part of the statement, which was also vetted by the Department of Education, read: “East Brisbane State School will not need to relocate, however there may be disruption for the school during construction phases.”
Celebrations that East Brisbane State School had been saved were short-lived following a corrected statement from the state government. Credit: Tony Moore
The Courier-Mail ran the lines in an online article on July 6 under the headline: ‘Heritage-listed school officially wins David vs Goliath battle against state gov’.
The article, which has since been removed, was shared on Facebook by the East Brisbane State School P & C Association who thanked the families, community and teachers for their work to keep the school in its current location.
“It’s certainly been a rollercoaster ride, but we would like to think we’ll still be here in another 125 years,” the post read.
The celebrations were short-lived though, after the department issued a correction on the original statement which was missing five crucial words: “by the end of 2025”.
A complete statement was later provided to read: “East Brisbane State School will not need to vacate its current site by the end of 2025. However, future works to the Gabba are expected to impact the school, and the government will work closely with the school community as those plans develop.”
East Brisbane State School P & C president Austin Gibbs described the turn of events as “heartbreaking”.
“This is a heartbreaking let-down for this community that has endured years of uncertainty. I don’t think anyone was trying to be dishonest, but it’s very disorganised,” he said.
The school posted the original Courier-Mail article on their Facebook page.Credit: Facebook/EBSS
The planned $2.7 billion rebuild of the Gabba Stadium for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics would have forced the closure and relocation of East Brisbane State School.
This was effectively killed off earlier this year with the Labor government deciding to scrap the extensive rebuild in favour of refurbishing the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre at Nathan.
In a statement this morning, South Brisbane Greens MP Amy MacMahon criticised the Labor government’s “incompetence” and described the last three years as a “circus” that put kids, teachers and parents in limbo.
“Yesterday parents were elated that the school would be protected, but just a few hours later, the Education Minister was frantically calling to say that the school could still be on the chopping block,” she said.
“This community has been fighting for over three years to keep their school. And it is clear that Labor still isn’t listening.”