Today in Parliament, Amanda asked a question in Question Time about what is being done to ensure comprehensive ventilation in schools to fight Covid. 

Amanda said:

My question without notice is to the Minister for Finance and Natural Resources, representing the Minister for Education and Early Learning. 

In May and June of this year, 11 schools in the state had Covid outbreaks that resulted in students learning from home. What is the current progress to date of the Department of Education’s localised auditing and rolling out of permanent improvements to enhance ventilation in schools? 

The Minister said:

I thank the honourable member for an excellent question as we approach the winter flu season. I note the honourable member is not feeing the best this week but she is taking the very responsible measure to wear a mask in the House while continuing about her work. There is no doubt this is an important issue. It is a really important question and one that the Deputy Premier, and education Minister, is well across. She is doing excellent work in the Education portfolio. As the Leader of the Government outlined earlier, we are approaching 100 days in government. The Minister is confronting a lot of challenges in the Education portfolio, but she is well across this issue. I am well aware of this issue, having been a member of the COVID oversight inquiry in the previous Parliament. I clearly remember that the Victorian Government was chartering planes and flying air purifiers in from around the world and the previous Government did nothing. It is a really important issue, judging by the responses of those opposite, who clearly have strong feelings on it as well. This winter season will be tough, with COVID and the flu circulating. We know that it is going to be difficult. We are continuing our work in this space and trying to find a way through it. I note that earlier today in the House the honourable member spoke about closures of schools. We continue to face the intersection of this issue with the chronic teacher shortage and we will continue to manage it over coming months.

Read the full Hansard transcript here.