Haynes criticises no amendments

OPPOSITION Senator Anita Haynes has criticised Government for not allowing amendments following debate on regulations for children’s residences.

She was contributing to Senate debate yesterday on a motion to approve regulations for the Children’s Community Residences (Rehabilitation Centres) 2018.

She said, after a heartfelt statement by Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Ayanna Webster-Roy, when she heard there would be no amendments it “took the wind out of the sails.”

“What is the point? We have been preparing for the debate, doing research and we expected to just be a rubber stamp?”

Haynes said the Senate had to get these regulations right as opposed to just getting them done. She said the regulations were at the most basic level and the Senate was being asked to lower their expectations and standards.

“I am not prepared to lower my standards.”

She said, for example, the regulations say there must be continuous training of staff but that was a very low threshold, and it did not include what the staff composition had to be and how the training would be maintained. “That is simply not good enough.”