Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill a second time. This means that the majority of MPs agree with the main idea in the bill, which was to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (‘ABCC’).

The House subsequently agreed to a motion to read the bill for a third time without division. This means that the bill was passed in the House and can now be sent to the Senate for their consideration.

Background to the bill

The ABCC was originally established by the Coalition Government in 2005 in response to the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry, which found that there was “widespread disregard of the rule of law” within the industry.( Summary of Findings and Recommendations (1.9MB). For a more general introduction on the ABCC, see the Wikipedia page. ) The Labor Government abolished the ABCC in 2012.

Re-establishing the ABCC was one of the Liberal Party’s policies going into the 2013 election and the bill reflects this.( Improving the Fair Work Laws policy)

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens Absent
Australian Labor Party (78% turnout) 0 Yes 42 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler No
Sharon Bird Cunningham No
Chris Bowen McMahon No
Gai Brodtmann Canberra No
Tony Burke Watson No
Anthony Byrne Holt No
Jim Chalmers Rankin No
Lisa Chesters Bendigo No
Jason Clare Blaxland No
Sharon Claydon Newcastle No
Pat Conroy Charlton No
Michael Danby Melbourne Ports No
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs No
Justine Elliot Richmond No
Kate Ellis Adelaide No
David Feeney Batman No
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter No
Andrew Giles Scullin No
Gary Gray Brand No
Alan Griffin Bruce No
Jill Hall Shortland No
Chris Hayes Fowler No
Ed Husic Chifley No
Stephen Jones Throsby No
Andrew Leigh Fraser No
Alannah Mactiernan Perth No
Richard Marles Corio No
Rob Mitchell McEwen No
Shayne Neumann Blair No
Brendan O'Connor Gorton No
Clare O'Neil Hotham No
Julie Owens Parramatta No
Graham Perrett Moreton No
Tanya Plibersek Sydney No
Bernie Ripoll Oxley No
Amanda Rishworth Kingston No
Michelle Rowland Greenway No
Joanne Ryan Lalor No
Warren Snowdon Lingiari No
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith No
Kelvin Thomson Wills No
Tony Zappia Makin No
Anna Burke Chisholm Absent
Mark Butler Port Adelaide Absent
Nick Champion Wakefield Absent
Julie Collins Franklin Absent
Laurie Ferguson Werriwa Absent
Catherine King Ballarat Absent
Jenny Macklin Jagajaga Absent
Melissa Parke Fremantle Absent
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Absent
Wayne Swan Lilley Absent
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell Absent
Tim Watts Gellibrand Absent
Natasha Griggs Solomon Country Liberal Party Yes
Bruce Scott Maranoa Deputy Speaker Absent
Cathy McGowan Indi Independent Yes
Andrew Wilkie Denison Independent No
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal Party (92% turnout) 67 Yes 0 No
John Alexander Bennelong Yes
Karen Andrews McPherson Yes
Kevin Andrews Menzies Yes
Bob Baldwin Paterson Yes
Bruce Billson Dunkley Yes
Julie Bishop Curtin Yes
Jamie Briggs Mayo Yes
Russell Broadbent McMillan Yes
Mal Brough Fisher Yes
Scott Buchholz Wright Yes
Steven Ciobo Moncrieff Yes
David Coleman Banks Yes
Peter Dutton Dickson Yes
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Yes
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Yes
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Yes
Teresa Gambaro Brisbane Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Sarah Henderson Corangamite Yes
Peter Hendy Eden-Monaro Yes
Luke Howarth Petrie Yes
Greg Hunt Flinders Yes
Eric Hutchinson Lyons Yes
Steve Irons Swan Yes
Dennis Jensen Tangney Yes
Ewen Jones Herbert Yes
Michael Keenan Stirling Yes
Craig Kelly Hughes Yes
Craig Laundy Reid Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Ian Macfarlane Groom Yes
Nola Marino Forrest Yes
Louise Markus Macquarie Yes
Russell Matheson Macarthur Yes
Karen McNamara Dobell Yes
Scott Morrison Cook Yes
Andrew Nikolic Bass Yes
Tony Pasin Barker Yes
Christian Porter Pearce Yes
Melissa Price Durack Yes
Christopher Pyne Sturt Yes
Rowan Ramsey Grey Yes
Don Randall Canning Yes
Andrew Robb Goldstein Yes
Stuart Robert Fadden Yes
Wyatt Roy Longman Yes
Philip Ruddock Berowra Yes
Fiona Scott Lindsay Yes
Luke Simpkins Cowan Yes
Tony Smith Casey Yes
Andrew Southcott Boothby Yes
Sharman Stone Murray Yes
Ann Sudmalis Gilmore Yes
Michael Sukkar Deakin Yes
Angus Taylor Hume Yes
Dan Tehan Wannon Yes
Alan Tudge Aston Yes
Bert Van Manen Forde Yes
Nickolas Varvaris Barton Yes
Ross Vasta Bonner Yes
Brett Whiteley Braddon Yes
Lucy Wicks Robertson Yes
Matt Williams Hindmarsh Yes
Rick Wilson O'Connor Yes
Jason Wood La Trobe Yes
Ken Wyatt Hasluck Yes
Tony Abbott Warringah Absent
Joe Hockey North Sydney Absent
Andrew Laming Bowman Absent
Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins Absent
Jane Prentice Ryan Absent
Malcolm Turnbull Wentworth Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 14 Yes 0 No
Andrew Broad Mallee Yes
Darren Chester Gippsland Yes
George Christensen Dawson Yes
John Cobb Calare Yes
Mark Coulton Parkes Yes
David Gillespie Lyne Yes
Luke Hartsuyker Cowper Yes
Kevin Hogan Page Yes
Barnaby Joyce New England Yes
Michelle Landry Capricornia Yes
Michael McCormack Riverina Yes
Ken O'Dowd Flynn Yes
Keith Pitt Hinkler Yes
Warren Truss Wide Bay Yes
Clive Palmer Fairfax Palmer United Party Absent
Bronwyn Bishop Mackellar Speaker Absent
Totals (85% turnout) 83 Yes – 43 No