Summary

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The majority voted against a motion, which means it was unsuccessful. It was introduced by Independent MP Andrew Wilkie (Denison).

Motion text

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that Centrelink has, since late 2016, been sending out numerous incorrect notices relating to debt recovery – by its estimation, at least 4,000 of the 20,000 debt notices sent each week are incorrect;

(2) notes the severe financial and emotional toll that the debt recovery system has had on thousands of people, including some of the most vulnerable, with some going so far as to talk of suicide;

(3) notes the many well-documented problems with the system, including:

(a) incorrect debts being raised by a crude data-matching of a person's annual income as reported by the Australian Taxation Office with their fortnightly income reported to Centrelink;

(b) alleged debts having been referred to debt collection agencies in a short amount of time, often when the person has not even been made aware of the alleged debt because they have not received adequate notice from Centrelink;

(c) people being asked for payslips and other proof of income from periods or in circumstances where they could not reasonably be expected to provide such documentation; and

(d) the Department of Human Services often refusing to explain how an alleged debt has been calculated, and in some cases recalculating the alleged debt seemingly at random;

(4) notes that while the Minister for Human Services has indicated that some minor changes will be made, the program remains deeply flawed and must be shut down immediately;

(5) condemns the Minister for not only refusing to admit that there is a problem with the system, but also for insisting that the system will continue to operate despite it incorrectly targeting thousands of innocent Australians and its failure to treat people fairly and humanely; and

(6) calls on the Minister to:

(a) ensure that all Centrelink debt recovery activities are timely and accurate, and are conducted in a fair and humane manner; and

(b) convene, as a matter of urgency, an expert stakeholder roundtable to design a fair and humane system of debt detection and recovery.

Votes Not passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens Yes
Australian Labor Party (96% turnout) 66 Yes 0 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler Yes
Anne Aly Cowan Yes
Sharon Bird Cunningham Yes
Chris Bowen McMahon Yes
Gai Brodtmann Canberra Yes
Tony Burke Watson Yes
Linda Burney Barton Yes
Mark Butler Port Adelaide Yes
Terri Butler Griffith Yes
Anthony Byrne Holt Yes
Jim Chalmers Rankin Yes
Nick Champion Wakefield Yes
Lisa Chesters Bendigo Yes
Jason Clare Blaxland Yes
Sharon Claydon Newcastle Yes
Pat Conroy Shortland Yes
Michael Danby Melbourne Ports Yes
Milton Dick Oxley Yes
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs Yes
Justine Elliot Richmond Yes
Kate Ellis Adelaide Yes
David Feeney Batman Yes
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter Yes
Mike Freelander Macarthur Yes
Steve Georganas Hindmarsh Yes
Andrew Giles Scullin Yes
Luke Gosling Solomon Yes
Tim Hammond Perth Yes
Ross Hart Bass Yes
Chris Hayes Fowler Yes
Julian Hill Bruce Yes
Emma Husar Lindsay Yes
Ed Husic Chifley Yes
Stephen Jones Whitlam Yes
Justine Keay Braddon Yes
Mike Kelly Eden-Monaro Yes
Matt Keogh Burt Yes
Peter Khalil Wills Yes
Catherine King Ballarat Yes
Madeleine King Brand Yes
Susan Lamb Longman Yes
Andrew Leigh Fenner Yes
Jenny Macklin Jagajaga Yes
Richard Marles Corio Yes
Emma McBride Dobell Yes
Brian Mitchell Lyons Yes
Rob Mitchell McEwen Yes
Shayne Neumann Blair Yes
Brendan O'Connor Gorton Yes
Clare O'Neil Hotham Yes
Cathy O'Toole Herbert Yes
Julie Owens Parramatta Yes
Graham Perrett Moreton Yes
Tanya Plibersek Sydney Yes
Amanda Rishworth Kingston Yes
Joanne Ryan Lalor Yes
Warren Snowdon Lingiari Yes
Anne Stanley Werriwa Yes
Wayne Swan Lilley Yes
Meryl Swanson Paterson Yes
Susan Templeman Macquarie Yes
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith Yes
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell Yes
Tim Watts Gellibrand Yes
Josh Wilson Fremantle Yes
Tony Zappia Makin Yes
Julie Collins Franklin Absent
Michelle Rowland Greenway Absent
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Absent
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker No
Bob Katter Kennedy Independent Yes
Cathy McGowan Indi Independent Yes
Andrew Wilkie Denison Independent Yes
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal Party (97% turnout) 0 Yes 57 No
Tony Abbott Warringah No
John Alexander Bennelong No
Karen Andrews McPherson No
Kevin Andrews Menzies No
Julia Banks Chisholm No
Russell Broadbent McMillan No
Scott Buchholz Wright No
Steven Ciobo Moncrieff No
David Coleman Banks No
Chris Crewther Dunkley No
Peter Dutton Dickson No
Warren Entsch Leichhardt No
Trevor Evans Brisbane No
Jason Falinski Mackellar No
Paul Fletcher Bradfield No
Nicolle Flint Boothby No
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong No
Ian Goodenough Moore No
Andrew Hastie Canning No
Sarah Henderson Corangamite No
Luke Howarth Petrie No
Greg Hunt Flinders No
Steve Irons Swan No
Michael Keenan Stirling No
Craig Kelly Hughes No
Andrew Laming Bowman No
Craig Laundy Reid No
Julian Leeser Berowra No
Sussan Ley Farrer No
Nola Marino Forrest No
John McVeigh Groom No
Scott Morrison Cook No
Ben Morton Tangney No
Ted O'Brien Fairfax No
Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins No
Tony Pasin Barker No
Christian Porter Pearce No
Jane Prentice Ryan No
Melissa Price Durack No
Christopher Pyne Sturt No
Rowan Ramsey Grey No
Stuart Robert Fadden No
Ann Sudmalis Gilmore No
Michael Sukkar Deakin No
Angus Taylor Hume No
Dan Tehan Wannon No
Alan Tudge Aston No
Malcolm Turnbull Wentworth No
Bert Van Manen Forde No
Ross Vasta Bonner No
Andrew Wallace Fisher No
Lucy Wicks Robertson No
Rick Wilson O'Connor No
Tim Wilson Goldstein No
Jason Wood La Trobe No
Ken Wyatt Hasluck No
Trent Zimmerman North Sydney No
Julie Bishop Curtin Absent
Alex Hawke Mitchell Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 0 Yes 15 No
Andrew Broad Mallee No
Darren Chester Gippsland No
George Christensen Dawson No
Damian Drum Murray No
Andrew Gee Calare No
David Gillespie Lyne No
Luke Hartsuyker Cowper No
Kevin Hogan Page No
Barnaby Joyce New England No
Michelle Landry Capricornia No
David Littleproud Maranoa No
Michael McCormack Riverina No
Llew O'Brien Wide Bay No
Ken O'Dowd Flynn No
Keith Pitt Hinkler No
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Nick Xenophon Team Yes
Tony Smith Casey Speaker Absent
Totals (96% turnout) 71 Yes – 74 No