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Wednesday 6 February 2019
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‘Small’ start to school THREE small prep classes were running last week for first-timers at Eastbourne Primary School. “Smaller classes do impact on student learning, especially when student progress is based on rigorous assessment, targeted lessons and a personalised approach to all individual students,” principal Stephen Wilkinson said. “The new students will also have the opportunity to use the great facilities at Eastbourne and were greeted with additional play activities and equipment installed in the Foundation to 2 play area over the holiday break.” Mr Wilkinson said play needed to be encouraged as it was “one of the most important part of children’s lives”. “A well-resourced playground gives children an opportunity to socialise, explore their limitations, develop resilience, think creatively and develop imaginative pathways,” he said. “The addition of speaking tubes, sensory equipment and areas where children can write on walls will further enhance the area, which also has a play pod, a path where scooters and bikes are used, a designated tree climbing area, and fabulous play equipment.” Mr Wilkinson said “play exerts energy”, making it easier for them to focus and selfregulate for the academic side of education. Enjoying their first day at Eastbourne Primary School are Imogen, Jayda and Sebastian. Picture: Yanni
Hunt under pressure of coup fallout JULIA Banks finally broke cover on Thursday last week with an “announcement” that had been rumoured for weeks: she will stand as an independent candidate for Flinders at the May federal election. In doing so, Ms Banks will campaign against her former Liberal colleague, Greg Hunt, who has held the seat since 2001. Adding fuel to the Flinders electoral ire, it was leaked Friday afternoon that Labor’s candidate would be broad-
caster and head of journalism at the Australian College of the Arts, Tracee Hutchison. Labor sources would not confirm her candidature, but said the party’s administrative committee would make an announcement Friday (February 8). Statistically, it seems an uphill battle for Ms Banks as Mr Hunt won more than 50 per cent of the primary votes at the 2016 election. Ms Banks says she has yet to determine where her preferences would go, but it would be a strange move to allocate them towards her main adversary, Mr Hunt. Ms Banks – an outsider who won the
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her Liberal credentials and moved to the crossbench, further destabilising the Morrison-led government. On Friday last week, several of Ms Banks’s former parliamentary colleagues were accusing her of betrayal and “seat shopping”. It was also revealed that Malcolm Turnbull’s son Alex was “involved” in her bid to oust Mr Hunt, who holds Flinders with a comfortable margin of 7.8 per cent. It is Mr Hunt’s support for Mr Dutton that Julia Banks believes will give her the votes she needs to win Flinders as well as changes in electorate boundaries and the fact that she’s “not a member of any political elite”.
More uncertainty about Mr Hunt’s popularity with voters follows the November state election Labor landslide that saw the Liberals lose the southern peninsula seat of Nepean, which provides a large part of his support base. However, Ms Banks says she is not underestimating the number of Mr Hunt’s supporters and the Liberal Party’s willingness to “put a lot of money in” to ensure his political survival. Mr Morrison on Friday reportedly “laughed off” the threat by independents like Ms Banks while asserting that Mr Hunt had “worked like a Trojan for his community”. Continued page 3
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former Labor stronghold of Chisholm for the Liberals at the 2016 election – believes Mr Hunt has lost support because of his role in last August’s coup that saw Malcolm Turnbull lose his prime ministership. Mr Hunt sought the deputy leadership in the failed bid led by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to become prime minister. Ms Banks has dubbed Mr Hunt as Mr Dutton’s wingman. A second round of voting saw Scott Morrison take the helm and keep Mr Hunt as Health Minister and Mr Dutton as Home Affairs Minister. In November, Ms Banks renounced
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