Four Bills approved by Parliament

As the first vote on the budget edges closer, this evening parliament approved amendments to four laws. All bills have gone through their first reading, have been debated and amended at committee stage and have now been approved by parliament.

The bills include amendments to the Probation Act, the Data Protection Act, the Civil Code Act and the Mental Health Act.

The House also debated the Bill on the Counselling Profession, with Justice Minister Chris Said explaining how the bill shall be regulating the profession as he lists the various government works with regards to domestic violence, bullying and more.

The aim of the bill is to regulate the counselling profession.

Taking the floor, Labour MP Jose Herrera said that the Opposition would have no problem in voting in favour of this bill. Starting off his speech referring to the possibility that government may be brought down next Monday, Herrera commented that "chances were that this would be my last speech in parliament this year".

The justice minister was quick to quip: "More importantly is whether it will be your last speech in parliament... for legislatures to come."

Herrera joked back that Members of Parliament were like "migratory birds".

Meanwhile, government and opposition have agreed to skip the 30-minute slot allocated for parliamentary questions and continue with the agenda. This will allow government to continue presenting, debating and approving the several motions pending before the House.