Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to read this bill for a second time.(Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through to become a law here. ) This means that the majority agree with the main idea of the bill and that they can now discuss it in more detail.

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced to amend the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 in relation to bilateral agreements between the Commonwealth and Australian states and territories.(Read more about bilateral agreements here. ) The bill provides for the following:

  • states and territories can be accredited for approval decisions on large coal mining and coal seam gas developments likely to have a significant impact on a water resource;
  • all states and territories can be declared under the Act for the purposes of requesting advice from the Independent Expert Scientific Committee;
  • an approval process can be completed when an approval bilateral agreement is suspended, cancelled or ceases to apply to a particular action;
  • state and territory processes that meet the appropriate standards can be accredited for bilateral agreements;
  • a relevant bilateral agreement continues to apply to an accredited state or territory management arrangement or authorisation process despite minor amendments to the arrangement or authorisation process; and
  • proponents do not need to make referrals to the Commonwealth for actions that are covered by an approval bilateral agreement.(Find out more about the bill, including its explanatory memorandum, here.)

These amendments all relate to the Australian Government's one stop shop policy for environmental approvals.(Read more about the one stop shop policy on ABC News and The Conversation.)

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens No
Australian Labor Party (89% turnout) 0 Yes 49 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler No
Sharon Bird Cunningham No
Chris Bowen McMahon No
Gai Brodtmann Canberra No
Anna Burke Chisholm No
Tony Burke Watson No
Mark Butler Port Adelaide No
Terri Butler Griffith No
Anthony Byrne Holt No
Jim Chalmers Rankin No
Nick Champion Wakefield No
Lisa Chesters Bendigo No
Jason Clare Blaxland No
Sharon Claydon Newcastle No
Julie Collins Franklin 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
Laurie Ferguson Werriwa 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
Stephen Jones Throsby No
Catherine King Ballarat 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
Melissa Parke Fremantle No
Graham Perrett Moreton No
Bernie Ripoll Oxley No
Amanda Rishworth Kingston No
Michelle Rowland Greenway No
Warren Snowdon Lingiari No
Wayne Swan Lilley No
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith No
Kelvin Thomson Wills No
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell No
Tony Zappia Makin No
Ed Husic Chifley Absent
Jenny Macklin Jagajaga Absent
Tanya Plibersek Sydney Absent
Joanne Ryan Lalor Absent
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Absent
Tim Watts Gellibrand Absent
Natasha Griggs Solomon Country Liberal Party Yes
Bruce Scott Maranoa Deputy Speaker Yes
Cathy McGowan Indi Independent Yes
Bob Katter Kennedy Independent No
Andrew Wilkie Denison Independent No
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal Party (85% turnout) 62 Yes 0 No
John Alexander Bennelong Yes
Karen Andrews McPherson Yes
Kevin Andrews Menzies Yes
Bob Baldwin Paterson Yes
Bruce Billson Dunkley Yes
Jamie Briggs Mayo Yes
Russell Broadbent McMillan Yes
Mal Brough Fisher Yes
Scott Buchholz Wright Yes
David Coleman Banks Yes
Peter Dutton Dickson Yes
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Yes
Teresa Gambaro Brisbane Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Sarah Henderson Corangamite Yes
Peter Hendy Eden-Monaro Yes
Joe Hockey North Sydney 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
Andrew Laming Bowman Yes
Craig Laundy Reid Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Ian Macfarlane Groom Yes
Nola Marino Forrest Yes
Karen McNamara Dobell Yes
Andrew Nikolic Bass Yes
Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins Yes
Tony Pasin Barker Yes
Christian Porter Pearce Yes
Jane Prentice Ryan 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
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
Julie Bishop Curtin Absent
Steven Ciobo Moncrieff Absent
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Absent
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Absent
Luke Howarth Petrie Absent
Louise Markus Macquarie Absent
Russell Matheson Macarthur Absent
Scott Morrison Cook Absent
Malcolm Turnbull Wentworth Absent
Ross Vasta Bonner 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 (87% turnout) 79 Yes – 52 No