As the Chair of this Inquiry, I would like to thank the hundreds of parents, teachers and schools who participated and provided submissions to the committee. The inquiry identified significant inadequacies in the NSW education system for students with disabilities and special needs. Parents and teachers spend an enormous amount of time, energy and money advocating for their children with disabilities or special needs to receive the same educational opportunities as other children and its about time their voices were heard. For more information on the inquiry and the final report, click here.

The NSW Liberals and Nationals will oppose the construction of Tillegra Dam near Dungog in NSW. Since Tillegra Dam was first announced, as a diversion from the NSW Labor Government's political scandals, Hunter residents have raised their concerns about the project many times with me. The project was never part of the State Plan and was never about securing water for the region. Hunter residents would be paying more for their water for a dam that we don’t need and this is on top of increasing prices for electricity, vehicle registration costs and property tax.

 Leader of the NSW Opposition Barry O'Farrell has given his budget reply speech to Parliament, outlining several key policy areas to take NSW forward. In Government, the NSW Liberals and Nationals will establish Restart NSW, a capital fund to build essential infrastructure including public transport, roads and infrastructure to support people working in front line services. The fund will have a specific mandate to grow economic productivity in NSW and a clear goal of listing NSW economic growth to above the national average. To watch Barry's speech and find out more about the NSW Liberals and Nationals policies, click here.