Summary

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The majority agreed with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill for a second time. The bill can now be discussed in more detail.

What's the bill's main idea?

The main idea of the bill is to make changes to Australia's social security system.

The main two focuses for the bill are to make savings for the Government (that is, to let them spend less money on social services) and to amend the current childcare arrangements. For example, if the bill's passed, the child care benefit and child care rebate will be cancelled and a new child care subsidy (CCS) will be introduced that will be subject to both income and activity tests.

The bill's homepage gives a brief introduction to just how wide the changes are that the bill is making:

If it's passed, the bill will -

  • increase the family tax benefit (FTB) Part A fortnightly rates by $20.02 for each FTB child in the family up to 19 years of age;
  • remove the entitlement to FTB Part B for single parent families who are not single parents aged 60 or more or grandparents or great-grandparents from the start of the calendar year their youngest child turns 17 years of age;
  • phase out the FTB Part A and Part B end-of-year supplements;
  • increase certain youth allowance and disability support pension fortnightly rates by approximately $19.37 for recipients under 18 years of age;
  • reduce from 26 to six weeks the period during which age pension and other payments with unlimited portability can be paid outside Australia at the means-tested rate;
  • pause for three years the indexation of various income thresholds that apply to certain social security benefits and allowances and the income test free area for parenting payment single;
  • extend and simplifies the ordinary waiting period for all working age payments;
  • extend youth allowance (other) to 22 to 24 year olds in lieu of newstart allowance and sickness allowance;
  • provide for a four-week waiting period for certain persons aged under 25 years applying for youth allowance (other) or special benefit and require these job seekers to complete certain pre-benefit activities;
  • cease the child care benefit (CCB) and child care rebate;
  • introduce a child care subsidy (CCS) which is subject to both an income and activity test;
  • introduce various rates of additional child care subsidy (ACCS) that are available in certain circumstances;
  • make amendments in relation to CCS and ACCS claims, reviews of decisions, provider approvals, and compliance obligations of approved providers of child care services;
  • abolish the pensioner education supplement;
  • abolish the education entry payment;
  • prevent new recipients of welfare payments or concession cards from being paid the energy supplement from 20 September 2017;
  • cease the payment of pension supplement after six weeks temporary absence overseas and immediately for permanent departures;
  • enable automation of the regular income stream review process;
  • trial a social security income test incentive aimed at increasing the number of job seekers who undertake specified seasonal horticultural work, such as fruit picking;
  • provide that parental leave pay under the Paid Parental Leave scheme will only be provided to parents who have no employer-provided paid primary carer leave, or whose employer-provided paid primary carer leave is for a period less than 20 weeks or is paid at a rate below the full-time national minimum wage; and
  • remove the requirement for employers to provide paid parental leave to eligible employees, unless an employer chooses to manage the payment to employees and the employees agree for the employer to pay them.

The Explanatory Memorandum gives a more detailed explanation of these changes.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens No
Australian Labor Party (88% turnout) 0 Yes 61 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler No
Anne Aly Cowan No
Sharon Bird Cunningham No
Chris Bowen McMahon No
Tony Burke Watson No
Linda Burney Barton No
Mark Butler Port Adelaide No
Terri Butler Griffith No
Anthony Byrne Holt No
Nick Champion Wakefield No
Lisa Chesters Bendigo No
Jason Clare Blaxland No
Sharon Claydon Newcastle No
Julie Collins Franklin No
Pat Conroy Shortland No
Michael Danby Melbourne Ports No
Milton Dick Oxley No
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs No
Justine Elliot Richmond No
Kate Ellis Adelaide No
David Feeney Batman No
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter No
Mike Freelander Macarthur No
Steve Georganas Hindmarsh No
Andrew Giles Scullin No
Luke Gosling Solomon No
Tim Hammond Perth No
Ross Hart Bass No
Julian Hill Bruce No
Emma Husar Lindsay No
Ed Husic Chifley No
Stephen Jones Whitlam No
Justine Keay Braddon No
Mike Kelly Eden-Monaro No
Matt Keogh Burt No
Peter Khalil Wills No
Catherine King Ballarat No
Madeleine King Brand No
Susan Lamb Longman No
Andrew Leigh Fenner No
Jenny Macklin Jagajaga No
Emma McBride Dobell No
Brian Mitchell Lyons No
Rob Mitchell McEwen No
Shayne Neumann Blair No
Brendan O'Connor Gorton No
Clare O'Neil Hotham No
Cathy O'Toole Herbert No
Graham Perrett Moreton No
Tanya Plibersek Sydney No
Amanda Rishworth Kingston No
Joanne Ryan Lalor No
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong No
Warren Snowdon Lingiari No
Meryl Swanson Paterson No
Susan Templeman Macquarie No
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith No
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell No
Tim Watts Gellibrand No
Josh Wilson Fremantle No
Tony Zappia Makin No
Gai Brodtmann Canberra Absent
Jim Chalmers Rankin Absent
Chris Hayes Fowler Absent
Richard Marles Corio Absent
Julie Owens Parramatta Absent
Michelle Rowland Greenway Absent
Anne Stanley Werriwa Absent
Wayne Swan Lilley Absent
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker Yes
Bob Katter Kennedy Independent No
Cathy McGowan Indi Independent No
Andrew Wilkie Denison Independent No
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal Party (98% turnout) 58 Yes 0 No
Tony Abbott Warringah Yes
John Alexander Bennelong Yes
Karen Andrews McPherson Yes
Kevin Andrews Menzies Yes
Julia Banks Chisholm Yes
Julie Bishop Curtin Yes
Russell Broadbent McMillan Yes
Scott Buchholz Wright Yes
Steven Ciobo Moncrieff Yes
David Coleman Banks Yes
Chris Crewther Dunkley Yes
Peter Dutton Dickson Yes
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Yes
Trevor Evans Brisbane Yes
Jason Falinski Mackellar Yes
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Yes
Nicolle Flint Boothby Yes
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Andrew Hastie Canning Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Sarah Henderson Corangamite Yes
Luke Howarth Petrie Yes
Greg Hunt Flinders Yes
Steve Irons Swan Yes
Michael Keenan Stirling Yes
Craig Kelly Hughes Yes
Andrew Laming Bowman Yes
Craig Laundy Reid Yes
Julian Leeser Berowra Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Nola Marino Forrest Yes
John McVeigh Groom Yes
Scott Morrison Cook Yes
Ben Morton Tangney Yes
Ted O'Brien Fairfax 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
Stuart Robert Fadden Yes
Michael Sukkar Deakin Yes
Angus Taylor Hume Yes
Dan Tehan Wannon Yes
Alan Tudge Aston Yes
Malcolm Turnbull Wentworth Yes
Bert Van Manen Forde Yes
Ross Vasta Bonner Yes
Andrew Wallace Fisher Yes
Lucy Wicks Robertson Yes
Rick Wilson O'Connor Yes
Tim Wilson Goldstein Yes
Jason Wood La Trobe Yes
Ken Wyatt Hasluck Yes
Trent Zimmerman North Sydney Yes
Ann Sudmalis Gilmore Absent
National Party (80% turnout) 12 Yes 0 No
Andrew Broad Mallee Yes
Darren Chester Gippsland Yes
George Christensen Dawson Yes
Damian Drum Murray Yes
David Gillespie Lyne Yes
Luke Hartsuyker Cowper Yes
Michelle Landry Capricornia Yes
David Littleproud Maranoa Yes
Michael McCormack Riverina Yes
Llew O'Brien Wide Bay Yes
Ken O'Dowd Flynn Yes
Keith Pitt Hinkler Yes
Andrew Gee Calare Absent
Kevin Hogan Page Absent
Barnaby Joyce New England Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Nick Xenophon Team No
Tony Smith Casey Speaker Absent
Totals (91% turnout) 72 Yes – 66 No