Summary

Edit

The majority voted in favour of agreeing with the main idea of the bill. In other words, they voted to read it for a second time. This means it can now be considered in more detail.

What is the bill's main idea?

This bill is part of the Government's plans for Australia's economic recovery. The parliamentary library has not yet provided a bills digest, so there is no easy explanation for the bill's provisions available, but according to the explanatory memorandum (which is a political document prepared by whoever introduced the bill - in this case, the Government), the purpose of the bill is:

  • providing certainty to businesses and employees about casual employment;
  • giving regular casual employees a statutory pathway to ongoing employment by including a casual conversion entitlement in the National Employment Standards (NES) of the Fair Work Act;
  • extending two temporary JobKeeper flexibilities to businesses, in identified industries significantly impacted by the pandemic;
  • giving employers confidence to offer part-time employment and additional hours to employees, promoting flexibility and efficiency;
  • streamlining and improving the enterprise agreement making and approval process to encourage participation in collective bargaining;
  • ensuring industrial instruments do not transfer where an employee transfers between associated entities at the employee’s initiative;
  • providing greater certainty for investors, employers and employees by allowing the nominal life of greenfields agreements made in relation to the construction of a major project to be extended;
  • strengthening the Fair Work Act compliance and enforcement framework to address wage underpayments, ensure businesses have the confidence to hire and ensure employees receive their correct entitlements; and
  • introducing measures to support more efficient Fair Work Commission (FWC) processes.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens No
Australian Labor Party (82% turnout) 0 Yes 56 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
Josh Burns Macnamara No
Mark Butler Hindmarsh No
Terri Butler Griffith No
Anthony Byrne Holt No
Jim Chalmers Rankin No
Lisa Chesters Bendigo No
Jason Clare Blaxland No
Sharon Claydon Newcastle No
Libby Coker Corangamite No
Julie Collins Franklin No
Pat Conroy Shortland No
Milton Dick Oxley No
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs No
Justine Elliot Richmond No
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter No
Steve Georganas Adelaide No
Andrew Giles Scullin No
Luke Gosling Solomon No
Chris Hayes Fowler No
Julian Hill Bruce No
Ed Husic Chifley No
Stephen Jones Whitlam No
Ged Kearney Cooper No
Matt Keogh Burt No
Peter Khalil Wills No
Madeleine King Brand No
Richard Marles Corio No
Kristy McBain Eden-Monaro No
Emma McBride Dobell No
Daniel Mulino Fraser No
Peta Murphy Dunkley No
Shayne Neumann Blair No
Brendan O'Connor Gorton No
Clare O'Neil Hotham No
Julie Owens Parramatta No
Fiona Phillips Gilmore No
Tanya Plibersek Sydney No
Amanda Rishworth Kingston No
Michelle Rowland Greenway No
Joanne Ryan Lalor No
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong No
David Smith Bean No
Warren Snowdon Lingiari No
Anne Stanley Werriwa No
Meryl Swanson Paterson No
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith No
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell No
Tim Watts Gellibrand No
Josh Wilson Fremantle No
Tony Zappia Makin No
Nick Champion Spence Absent
Mike Freelander Macarthur Absent
Patrick Gorman Perth Absent
Catherine King Ballarat Absent
Andrew Leigh Fenner Absent
Brian Mitchell Lyons Absent
Rob Mitchell McEwen Absent
Alicia Payne Canberra Absent
Graham Perrett Moreton Absent
Susan Templeman Macquarie Absent
Kate Thwaites Jagajaga Absent
Anika Wells Lilley Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance No
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker Yes
Zali Steggall Warringah Independent Yes
Helen Haines Indi Independent No
Andrew Wilkie Clark Independent No
Craig Kelly Hughes Independent Absent
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party No
Liberal National Party (100% turnout) 5 Yes 0 No
Angie Bell Moncrieff Yes
Garth Hamilton Groom Yes
Julian Simmonds Ryan Yes
Phillip Thompson Herbert Yes
Terry Young Longman Yes
Liberal Party (85% turnout) 46 Yes 0 No
John Alexander Bennelong Yes
Katie Allen Higgins Yes
Karen Andrews McPherson Yes
Bridget Archer Bass Yes
Russell Broadbent Monash Yes
Vince Connelly Stirling Yes
Peter Dutton Dickson Yes
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Yes
Jason Falinski Mackellar Yes
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Yes
Nicolle Flint Boothby Yes
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Celia Hammond Curtin Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Greg Hunt Flinders Yes
Steve Irons Swan Yes
Craig Kelly Hughes Yes
Andrew Laming Bowman Yes
Julian Leeser Berowra Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Gladys Liu Chisholm Yes
Fiona Martin Reid Yes
Melissa McIntosh Lindsay Yes
Scott Morrison Cook Yes
Ted O'Brien Fairfax Yes
Tony Pasin Barker 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
Ross Vasta Bonner Yes
Andrew Wallace Fisher Yes
Lucy Wicks Robertson Yes
Rick Wilson O'Connor Yes
Tim Wilson Goldstein Yes
Ken Wyatt Hasluck Yes
Trent Zimmerman North Sydney Yes
Kevin Andrews Menzies Absent
Scott Buchholz Wright Absent
David Coleman Banks Absent
Trevor Evans Brisbane Absent
Andrew Hastie Canning Absent
Luke Howarth Petrie Absent
Nola Marino Forrest Absent
Ben Morton Tangney Absent
Jason Wood La Trobe Absent
National Party (80% turnout) 12 Yes 0 No
Darren Chester Gippsland Yes
George Christensen Dawson Yes
Pat Conaghan Cowper Yes
Damian Drum Nicholls Yes
Andrew Gee Calare Yes
David Gillespie Lyne Yes
Barnaby Joyce New England Yes
David Littleproud Maranoa Yes
Michael McCormack Riverina Yes
Ken O'Dowd Flynn Yes
Keith Pitt Hinkler Yes
Anne Webster Mallee Yes
Kevin Hogan Page Absent
Michelle Landry Capricornia Absent
Llew O'Brien Wide Bay Absent
Tony Smith Casey Speaker Absent
Totals (83% turnout) 65 Yes – 61 No