Lily Tuck

Members of the St. Kilda Primary school community rallied for a new community hall on Monday the 31st after their previous hall was demolished.

The demolition occurred as a part of capital works in 2021. A replacement space was originally included on the bottom level of a new building renovation. However, in the 14th version of the plan, this public space was removed.

The demolished King’s Hall was replaced by a two-story learning space, which has since won multiple design awards.

Caroline Thorton, parent and rally organiser said.

“That’s the problem. It got awards. And it wasn't quite what we wanted.”

Kings Hall was previously used daily as an indoor learning space, hosted school assemblies, incursions as well as events for the school community.  

Within the local area Kings Hall was used by council for polling, and immunisations, further being rented out to local businesses to host events.

Speaking at the rally Caroline said.

“When they demolished it and decided not to replace it, they weren't considering the demographic of the area.”

80% of St Kilda residents and 60% of Balaclava residents live in flats and apartments with little or no access to recreational space according to evidence provided by the school’s campaign.

She closed out her speech by saying, “We aren’t just campaigning for a school hall, we’re campaigning for a community hall to be built at our school…It’s a no brainer. Solve two problems with one hall.”

The school is calling for federal funding to be used to build a new hall. A Change.org petition advocating for this funding has received 3,252 signatures so far.

Monday’s rally saw speeches from several members of the community including Greens candidate for McNamara, Sonya Semmens.

 “You’ve been waiting too long for government to deliver on promises that were made... we are going to put on the table 12 million dollars,” Semmens pledged.

Speaking on the Greens education policies off stage she added “in the current context, the state isn't going to be able to fund it…   we think that there should be federal disbursement to make that happen.”

State Liberal member for Prahran Rachel Westaway also took to the stage stating, “We will deliver this for you at the next state election.”

Liberal candidate Benson Saulo, along with Labour’s Josh Burns, were present at the Rally, however neither spoke.

Both candidates have backed the school’s push for a new community hall but are yet to pledge any federal funding.

Josh Burns has previously visited the school with Education Minister Jason Clare and spoke in November of last year in parliament on the issue.

Reading a statement from St Kilda Primary student Stella, he said, “lots of people around our area don’t have much outdoor space... everyone around us will also have the opportunity.”

He closed his address with, “We will get to work to try and make [student visions] a reality.”

The seat of McNamara sees Labour hold a 12.3% margin out of the 2022 election.

The results from 2022 show Liberal and the greens both receiving around 29% of votes, with Labour Candidate Josh Burns getting 31.8%.

The Greens believe they can flip this seat, and listening to St Kilda Primary School’s calls for a new public hall may help them do so.

“Based on last election’s results, if just 298 voters shift to the Greens, Macnamara will make history.” Leader Adam Bandt has said.

The local community has rallied around the school, with letters being submitted from Port Phillip Mayor Louise Crawford, as well as the local basketball organisation, PlayBall stating.

“We would look to utilise the space and pay the school court rental in each School Term over the three evenings we operate.”

The school was the filming location for hit ABC kids TV show, Little Lunch, which has been used to create a campaign video in support of the community hall.

Media personality and former parent, Dave Hughes who emceed the rally, closed the speeches by calling on politicians to “please back up your words with actions.”