Summary

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The majority voted to agree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to give the bill a second reading. This means they can now discuss it in more detail.

What is the main idea of the bill?

This bill will implement part of the government's Job Ready Graduates Package and includes major proposed higher education funding changes, including how the government currently subsidises university tuition costs.

If successful in its current form, the bill will decrease the subsidy for most areas of the humanities and social science as well as in engineering, science, surveying, environmental studies and other areas. On the other hand, it will increase the subsidy for most health fields, education, mathematics and other areas. At the same time, the bill will set new maximum student contribution amounts, which means the degree costs for students are going to change significantly. Humanities, law and commerce degrees are going to increase in price while mathematics, agriculture and certain science degrees will decrease.

Sometimes, such as in the case of engineering, the changes appear somewhat contradictory: both the subsidy for engineering and the maximum student contribution rate is being reduced. According to Science and Technology Australia ("STA"):

...the proposed reduction of funding could risk the teaching of engineering especially at smaller or regional universities. The impact of the funding changes would also be particularly acute in the ‘heavy engineering’ disciplines – the teaching of which often involves expensive large-scale facilities and infrastructure. This affects fields such as mining engineering, petrochemical engineering, electrical engineering, heavy mechanical engineering and advanced manufacturing.

The most significant change will be in the cost of humanities degrees, which will go from being one of the cheapest subject areas to one of the most expensive.

According to the bills digest:

Analysis from the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne has estimated the overall impact of the proposed change:

University revenue for teaching would be reduced by nearly one billion dollars in 2021 and every year thereafter for the same domestic student load as in 2018 as a result of the funding caps imposed in 2018 and the 2021 funding cluster changes in Job-ready Graduates

In other words, the overall affect of the bill appears to be a reduction in government funding for the university sector.

Read more about the bill 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 (47% turnout) 0 Yes 32 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 Hindmarsh No
Terri Butler Griffith No
Jim Chalmers Rankin No
Lisa Chesters Bendigo No
Jason Clare Blaxland No
Sharon Claydon Newcastle No
Julie Collins Franklin No
Pat Conroy Shortland No
Justine Elliot Richmond No
Mike Freelander Macarthur No
Patrick Gorman Perth No
Luke Gosling Solomon No
Chris Hayes Fowler No
Ed Husic Chifley No
Stephen Jones Whitlam No
Madeleine King Brand No
Kristy McBain Eden-Monaro No
Emma McBride Dobell No
Peta Murphy Dunkley No
Brendan O'Connor Gorton No
Fiona Phillips Gilmore No
Tanya Plibersek Sydney No
Amanda Rishworth Kingston No
Anne Stanley Werriwa No
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith No
Tony Zappia Makin No
Josh Burns Macnamara Absent
Anthony Byrne Holt Absent
Nick Champion Spence Absent
Libby Coker Corangamite Absent
Milton Dick Oxley Absent
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs Absent
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter Absent
Steve Georganas Adelaide Absent
Andrew Giles Scullin Absent
Julian Hill Bruce Absent
Ged Kearney Cooper Absent
Matt Keogh Burt Absent
Peter Khalil Wills Absent
Catherine King Ballarat Absent
Andrew Leigh Fenner Absent
Richard Marles Corio Absent
Brian Mitchell Lyons Absent
Rob Mitchell McEwen Absent
Daniel Mulino Fraser Absent
Shayne Neumann Blair Absent
Clare O'Neil Hotham Absent
Julie Owens Parramatta Absent
Alicia Payne Canberra Absent
Graham Perrett Moreton Absent
Michelle Rowland Greenway Absent
Joanne Ryan Lalor Absent
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Absent
David Smith Bean Absent
Warren Snowdon Lingiari Absent
Meryl Swanson Paterson Absent
Susan Templeman Macquarie Absent
Kate Thwaites Jagajaga Absent
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell Absent
Tim Watts Gellibrand Absent
Anika Wells Lilley Absent
Josh Wilson Fremantle Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance Absent
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker Yes
Helen Haines Indi Independent Yes
Zali Steggall Warringah Independent No
Andrew Wilkie Clark Independent Absent
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal National Party (25% turnout) 1 Yes 0 No
Angie Bell Moncrieff Yes
Julian Simmonds Ryan Absent
Phillip Thompson Herbert Absent
Terry Young Longman Absent
Liberal Party (55% turnout) 31 Yes 0 No
Katie Allen Higgins Yes
Karen Andrews McPherson Yes
Vince Connelly Stirling Yes
Peter Dutton Dickson Yes
Jason Falinski Mackellar Yes
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Yes
Nicolle Flint Boothby Yes
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Greg Hunt Flinders Yes
Julian Leeser Berowra Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Fiona Martin Reid Yes
Melissa McIntosh Lindsay Yes
Gavin Pearce Braddon Yes
Christian Porter Pearce Yes
Melissa Price Durack Yes
Rowan Ramsey Grey Yes
Stuart Robert Fadden Yes
Dave Sharma Wentworth Yes
James Stevens Sturt Yes
Michael Sukkar Deakin Yes
Angus Taylor Hume Yes
Dan Tehan Wannon Yes
Alan Tudge Aston Yes
Bert Van Manen Forde Yes
Andrew Wallace Fisher Yes
Lucy Wicks Robertson Yes
Tim Wilson Goldstein Yes
Ken Wyatt Hasluck Yes
John Alexander Bennelong Absent
Kevin Andrews Menzies Absent
Bridget Archer Bass Absent
Russell Broadbent Monash Absent
Scott Buchholz Wright Absent
David Coleman Banks Absent
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Absent
Trevor Evans Brisbane Absent
Celia Hammond Curtin Absent
Andrew Hastie Canning Absent
Luke Howarth Petrie Absent
Steve Irons Swan Absent
Craig Kelly Hughes Absent
Andrew Laming Bowman Absent
Gladys Liu Chisholm Absent
Nola Marino Forrest Absent
John McVeigh Groom Absent
Scott Morrison Cook Absent
Ben Morton Tangney Absent
Ted O'Brien Fairfax Absent
Tony Pasin Barker Absent
Ross Vasta Bonner Absent
Rick Wilson O'Connor Absent
Jason Wood La Trobe Absent
Trent Zimmerman North Sydney Absent
National Party (47% turnout) 7 Yes 0 No
Andrew Gee Calare Yes
David Gillespie Lyne Yes
David Littleproud Maranoa Yes
Michael McCormack Riverina Yes
Ken O'Dowd Flynn Yes
Keith Pitt Hinkler Yes
Anne Webster Mallee Yes
Darren Chester Gippsland Absent
George Christensen Dawson Absent
Pat Conaghan Cowper Absent
Damian Drum Nicholls Absent
Kevin Hogan Page Absent
Barnaby Joyce New England Absent
Michelle Landry Capricornia Absent
Llew O'Brien Wide Bay Absent
Tony Smith Casey Speaker Absent
Totals (49% turnout) 41 Yes – 33 No