King Island District School will get a $5 million upgrade, including a roof over its outdoor court, paid for with returns from the Tasmanian government’s stake in the island’s tungsten mine.
The court upgrade follows a letter that three students, including Jamie Helbig and Tyson Dylan Saunders, both 11, wrote to a state minister.
School business manager Julie Sharman said students could not use the court for “probably six months of the year because it becomes too slippery”.
“They will gain so much … from having an all-weather court,” she said.
Sharman said student and staff bathrooms were “very dilapidated and not fit for purpose” and that the funding was the biggest investment in the school in recent memory.
“Because we’re isolated doesn’t mean that our children deserve less,” she said.
The school has around 170 students from kindergarten to Year 12.
Tyson said the students decided to “have a little team get together and send it to someone and they can go forward with it”.
Jamie said students played on the grass instead, “but we get hurt more”.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff announced the funding at the school, saying it would deliver better amenities for students and staff and upgrade the materials design and technology area.
The money comes from the government’s decision to convert a $10 million loan to the Dolphin Mine into equity.
Rockliff said the investment had “exceeded expectations significantly” and the mine now employed 180 people.
The windfall will also fund a $20 million Regional Resilience Fund to support communities hit by “employment shocks” when major industry leaves.
An estimated $50 million will go towards paying down state debt.
Rockliff said the government would progressively sell its shares in the mine.
“The government’s role is not to own mining shares as such and so we’ll be extracting ourselves out of the business over time,” he said.
He did not give a timeline for the sale, saying the government would take “the best advice”.
Asked whether mine workers would be hearing about the sale for the first time, he said “possibly”, but he did not believe they would be “anything but thankful” for the government’s contribution.
The government will work with Treasury, TasCorp and the Tasmanian Development and Resources Board on the details of the resilience fund.
