Summary

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The majority agreed with the bill's main idea. In parliamentary jargon, they voted in favour of reading the bill for a second time. This means that they can now discuss the bill in more detail.

What is the bill's main idea?

The bill (as amended) makes changes to the assets test for all means tested income support payments, including allowances and pensions. Firstly, it increases the threshold above which your assests are tested (known as "free areas") for the purposes of support payments. In other words, people on allowances or full pensions can have more assets than they currently can before those assets are included in their means testing - but not that much more. See the bills digest for the asset test limits.

People on allowances whose assets are above the free areas will no longer be eligible for that allowance while pensioners whose assets are above the free areas will have their pensions reduced at an increased rate.

If someone is no longer eligible for a payment as a result of the changes, the bill makes them eligible for a concession card (either a Health Care Card or a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card).

Read more in the bills digest.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens Absent
Australian Labor Party (93% turnout) 0 Yes 51 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
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
Ed Husic Chifley No
Stephen Jones Throsby No
Andrew Leigh Fraser No
Jenny Macklin Jagajaga 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
Tanya Plibersek Sydney No
Bernie Ripoll Oxley No
Amanda Rishworth Kingston No
Michelle Rowland Greenway No
Joanne Ryan Lalor No
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong No
Warren Snowdon Lingiari No
Wayne Swan Lilley No
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith No
Tim Watts Gellibrand No
Tony Zappia Makin No
Kate Ellis Adelaide Absent
Catherine King Ballarat Absent
Kelvin Thomson Wills Absent
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell Absent
Natasha Griggs Solomon Country Liberal Party Yes
Bruce Scott Maranoa Deputy Speaker Yes
Cathy McGowan Indi Independent No
Andrew Wilkie Denison Independent No
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal Party (84% turnout) 61 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
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Yes
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Sarah Henderson Corangamite Yes
Peter Hendy Eden-Monaro Yes
Joe Hockey North Sydney 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
Andrew Laming Bowman 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
Christian Porter Pearce Yes
Jane Prentice Ryan Yes
Melissa Price Durack Yes
Christopher Pyne Sturt Yes
Rowan Ramsey Grey Yes
Don Randall Canning 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
Alan Tudge Aston Yes
Malcolm Turnbull Wentworth Yes
Bert Van Manen Forde Yes
Nickolas Varvaris Barton Yes
Ross Vasta Bonner Yes
Brett Whiteley Braddon Yes
Matt Williams Hindmarsh Yes
Jason Wood La Trobe Yes
Ken Wyatt Hasluck Yes
Tony Abbott Warringah Absent
Peter Dutton Dickson Absent
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Absent
Teresa Gambaro Brisbane Absent
Craig Kelly Hughes Absent
Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins Absent
Tony Pasin Barker Absent
Andrew Robb Goldstein Absent
Stuart Robert Fadden Absent
Dan Tehan Wannon Absent
Lucy Wicks Robertson Absent
Rick Wilson O'Connor 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) 77 Yes – 53 No