Ms CARMEL TEBBUTT: My question is directed to the Minister for Education. Will the Minister guarantee that no school will be worse off and that no school will lose support teacher learning assistance positions as a result of the Every Student, Every School reform that he announced today?

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: I am very pleased to be asked that question and to have 12 minutes to respond about the terrific reform we announced today—and I will get to the question in a second. To continue the previous quote, the parent said—

The SPEAKER: Order! Perhaps the Minister could answer the question first.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: It is an important question.

The SPEAKER: Order! I have suggested that the Minister return to the leave of the question.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: It is an important question that I have been asked.

Mr John Robertson: Then answer it.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: I will get to it; I will answer the question.

The SPEAKER: Order! I do not need assistance from Opposition members. I trust that the Minister will return to the leave of the question.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: No-one with a permanent position will lose their jobs as a result of these reforms.

Ms Carmel Tebbutt: That is not the question.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister has answered the question.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: As I said at the beginning of my previous answer, all students will benefit as a result of these reforms. The problem with the Opposition's approach to everything in education is that they can only do something if they throw a bucket of money at it. What we are doing here is making sure that the money we are spending is allocated much more effectively.

Mr Robert Furolo: Who are the winners and who are the losers?

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: The Opposition asked me the question; its members should at least have the decency to listen to the answer. We have seen what happened in the Illawarra where this reform was trialled. The vast majority of principals want this change. I was in the process of quoting a parent. Let us forget about the schools and teachers; what do parents want to see? What is in the best interest of students? No-one knows what is in students' best interests better than their—

Ms Anna Watson: Point of order—

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Education will resume his seat. I warn the member for Shellharbour that if she is going to say this is not true, that will not be a point of order.

Ms Anna Watson: I am going to say that it is not true and he is misleading the House—

The SPEAKER: Order! That is not a point of order.

Ms Anna Watson: He is misleading this House.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume her seat. The member for Shellharbour should read the standing orders in relation to points of order. The Minister for Education has the call.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: I did not hear what I was meant to be misleading the House about, but we are changing the way that resources are allocated to support students with disabilities. I will give an example. A typical travelling support teacher team from one of our regions, the Illawarra-South Coast—a team of six support teachers led by an assistant principal—looks after 60 schools. Over three months the support teachers managed to visit only 23 of those 60 schools. In other words, 37 schools missed out because the support officers did not have time to get to them. The support for those 23 schools varied greatly. One school received only one visit, while another school received 71 visits. The problem is that, particularly in regional electorates—in parts of New South Wales like the Illawarra-South Coast, south-western New South Wales, the North Coast, the North West and the Central West—teachers spend three-quarters of their time on the road. They do a great job, but they are hampered by the fact that they spend three-quarters of their time on the road.

Ms Carmel Tebbutt: Point of order: I refer to Standing Order 129, relevance. The question was very simple. Will the Minister give a guarantee that no student will be worse off—yes or no?

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister is providing a relevant answer to the question.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: The answer to the question is that there is $48 million in additional funding—

Ms Carmel Tebbutt: Federal money.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Marrickville will come to order.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: That funding is going into this program to lift the capacity of every school to deliver for students with disabilities. The evidence is overwhelming in every aspect of education that the best way to improve student performance is to lift the capacity and capabilities of the teaching profession. That is the best way to support students. That is what we are doing with the $48 million that the Commonwealth is providing, which is more than welcomed by the New South Wales Government. We always look for ways of developing positive partnerships with the Commonwealth, and this is one example. But we are also changing the way that we allocate resources to students with disabilities. It is not the best use of teachers' time to spend three-quarters of their time in a vehicle. We are putting those resources directly into schools so that parents like Di Samuels near Bega can see the types of benefits that they bring for her students. She said:

It's been great to see that the various kids that need help haven't needed a label and that they've got help in a timely fashion so that they're now able to access programs on a daily basis—specialist learning programs …

[Time expired.]