Summary

Edit

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by Melbourne MP Adam Bandt (Greens), which means it failed.

This amendment would put in place a process in respect to the public announcement of newly approved research grants. Mr Bandt explains his concerns with the current process and the reasons for his amendment:

[The Government] have issued new guidelines that say, 'Even once the Australian Research Council has approved a grant and it's been through the process, you can't announce it publicly unless you're a coalition MP,' even if it's not in your electorate and even if it's got nothing to do with you. You have to wait until you've got the public announcement of your grant. You have to wait until a coalition MP, a backbencher in a marginal seat, is ready to front up and do a press conference with you. That is an appalling abuse of the independence of the ARC. People should not have to wait to have grants publicly announced to suit the political convenience of a backbencher from the Liberal or National parties.

[...]

I'm moving an amendment that puts in place a very clear process that can't be accused of being politicised. It makes it crystal clear that when a minister makes the decision to approve the grant funding—so it's not changing the processes under the act—they just publish it within 21 days so that everyone knows. It also says that the announcement is not to be made together with another MP or a candidate from the minister's own political party; they just put it up on the website so that people know.

Amendment text

(1) Schedule 1, page 3 (after line 11), at the end of the Schedule, add:

4 After section 51

Insert:

51A Announcements about approval of expenditure on research programs

(1) The Minister must, within 21 days after making a determination under paragraph 51(2)(b):

(a) make a public announcement of the determination; and

(b) cause a copy of the announcement to be published on the internet.

(2) The Minister must not make an announcement under subsection (1) together with any of the following:

(a) another member of parliament;

(b) a candidate in an election for the Senate or the House of Representatives.

(3) An announcement made under subsection (1) is not a legislative instrument.

(4) To avoid doubt, subsection (1) applies in addition to subsection 51(3).

(5) In this section, member of parliament means:

(a) a senator; or

(b) a member of the House of Representatives; or

(c) a Minister of State who is not a senator or member of the House of Representatives; or

(d) a person who is taken to be the President of the Senate under the Parliamentary Presiding Officers Act 1965 and who is not a senator or member of the House of Representatives; or

(e) a person who is taken to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives under the Parliamentary Presiding Officers Act 1965 and who is not a senator or member of the House of Representatives.

Votes Not passed by a large majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens Yes
Australian Labor Party (25% turnout) 0 Yes 17 No
Pat Conroy Shortland No
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs No
Justine Elliot Richmond No
Mike Freelander Macarthur No
Andrew Giles Scullin No
Julian Hill Bruce No
Ed Husic Chifley No
Matt Keogh Burt No
Peter Khalil Wills No
Peta Murphy Dunkley No
Shayne Neumann Blair No
Clare O'Neil Hotham No
Graham Perrett Moreton No
David Smith Bean No
Warren Snowdon Lingiari No
Meryl Swanson Paterson No
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler Absent
Anne Aly Cowan Absent
Sharon Bird Cunningham Absent
Chris Bowen McMahon Absent
Tony Burke Watson Absent
Linda Burney Barton Absent
Josh Burns Macnamara Absent
Mark Butler Hindmarsh Absent
Terri Butler Griffith Absent
Anthony Byrne Holt Absent
Jim Chalmers Rankin Absent
Nick Champion Spence Absent
Lisa Chesters Bendigo Absent
Jason Clare Blaxland Absent
Sharon Claydon Newcastle Absent
Libby Coker Corangamite Absent
Julie Collins Franklin Absent
Milton Dick Oxley Absent
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter Absent
Steve Georganas Adelaide Absent
Patrick Gorman Perth Absent
Luke Gosling Solomon Absent
Chris Hayes Fowler Absent
Stephen Jones Whitlam Absent
Ged Kearney Cooper Absent
Mike Kelly Eden-Monaro Absent
Catherine King Ballarat Absent
Madeleine King Brand Absent
Andrew Leigh Fenner Absent
Richard Marles Corio Absent
Emma McBride Dobell Absent
Brian Mitchell Lyons Absent
Rob Mitchell McEwen Absent
Daniel Mulino Fraser Absent
Brendan O'Connor Gorton Absent
Julie Owens Parramatta Absent
Alicia Payne Canberra Absent
Fiona Phillips Gilmore Absent
Tanya Plibersek Sydney Absent
Amanda Rishworth Kingston Absent
Michelle Rowland Greenway Absent
Joanne Ryan Lalor Absent
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Absent
Anne Stanley Werriwa Absent
Susan Templeman Macquarie Absent
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith Absent
Kate Thwaites Jagajaga Absent
Tim Watts Gellibrand Absent
Anika Wells Lilley Absent
Josh Wilson Fremantle Absent
Tony Zappia Makin Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance Absent
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker Absent
Helen Haines Indi Independent Yes
Zali Steggall Warringah Independent Yes
Andrew Wilkie Clark Independent Yes
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Yes
Liberal National Party (100% turnout) 0 Yes 4 No
Angie Bell Moncrieff No
Julian Simmonds Ryan No
Phillip Thompson Herbert No
Terry Young Longman No
Liberal Party (80% turnout) 0 Yes 45 No
John Alexander Bennelong No
Katie Allen Higgins No
Karen Andrews McPherson No
Bridget Archer Bass No
Russell Broadbent Monash No
Scott Buchholz Wright No
Vince Connelly Stirling No
Warren Entsch Leichhardt No
Trevor Evans Brisbane No
Paul Fletcher Bradfield No
Nicolle Flint Boothby No
Celia Hammond Curtin No
Andrew Hastie Canning No
Luke Howarth Petrie No
Steve Irons Swan No
Craig Kelly Hughes No
Andrew Laming Bowman No
Julian Leeser Berowra No
Gladys Liu Chisholm No
Nola Marino Forrest No
Fiona Martin Reid No
Melissa McIntosh Lindsay No
John McVeigh Groom No
Scott Morrison Cook No
Ben Morton Tangney No
Ted O'Brien Fairfax No
Tony Pasin Barker No
Gavin Pearce Braddon No
Christian Porter Pearce No
Melissa Price Durack No
Rowan Ramsey Grey No
Stuart Robert Fadden No
Dave Sharma Wentworth No
James Stevens Sturt No
Michael Sukkar Deakin No
Angus Taylor Hume No
Alan Tudge Aston No
Bert Van Manen Forde 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
Kevin Andrews Menzies Absent
David Coleman Banks Absent
Peter Dutton Dickson Absent
Jason Falinski Mackellar Absent
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Absent
Ian Goodenough Moore Absent
Alex Hawke Mitchell Absent
Greg Hunt Flinders Absent
Sussan Ley Farrer Absent
Dan Tehan Wannon Absent
Ross Vasta Bonner Absent
National Party (80% turnout) 0 Yes 12 No
George Christensen Dawson No
Pat Conaghan Cowper No
Damian Drum Nicholls No
Andrew Gee Calare No
David Gillespie Lyne 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
Keith Pitt Hinkler No
Darren Chester Gippsland Absent
Ken O'Dowd Flynn Absent
Anne Webster Mallee Absent
Tony Smith Casey Speaker Absent
Totals (55% turnout) 5 Yes – 78 No