Senator Arbib – the Minister assisting the Prime Minister on Service Delivery – witnessed the pouring of the concrete slab for the new hall at Morgan Street Public School, while touring far western NSW to discuss indigenous employment.

 

“This is one of hundreds of local school projects right across the region which are both providing jobs for local people and giving schools and students improved facilities,” Senator Arbib said.

 

“Laing O’Rourke reports that latest figures show more than 230 workers were employed in delivering the Building the Education Revolution Primary Schools for the 21st Century Projects in

the Western NSW Region during November – and around 10 per cent were apprentices or trainees.

 

“Another 10 per cent of the BER P21 workers in the Western NSW Region are Indigenous, with that figure expected to rise as further projects roll out during 2010.”

 

Laing O’Rourke has built strong relationships with the Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly and other indigenous groups to encourage participation in the program.

 

Teams in the NSW Riverina and Western regions are currently rolling out 320 individual projects as part of the BER Managing Contractor task.