Summary

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The majority voted in favour of disagreeing with an amendment introduced by Aston MP Alan Tudge (Liberal), which means it failed.

What did this amendment do?

Mr Tudge explained that:

What this amendment does is actually call on a couple of things. Most importantly, it calls for a review to occur after two years. A period of two years is important because it gives enough time to see what the behavioural change will be from the operation of this bill in relation to the doctors and nurse practitioners. Secondly, it asks for the review team to specifically examine whether or not the measures which are proposed for doctors and nurse practitioners should apply to other professions where there are shortages in regional and remote areas. In particular, the amendment calls for an examination of other health measures—mental health in particular—and the education sector. But there may be other professions where there are shortages. In a couple of years time those shortages could be different ones, and we may want to consider providing the same HECS discounts for those professions.

Amendment text

(1) Page 2 (after line 11), after clause 3, insert:

4 Review of Schedule 2 to this Act

(1) The Minister must cause an independent review to be conducted of the operation of the amendments made by Schedule 2 to this Act, with the purpose of assessing the expansion of the policy of waiving HELP debt to additional professions of high skills need in rural and remote Australia.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the review must consider, and make recommendations to the Commonwealth Government about, the expansion of the policy implemented by the amendments to other sectors in rural and remote Australia, including the health, mental health and education sectors.

(3) The review should consult widely with rural and remote communities and their health, mental health and education service providers and specifically, the following must be consulted as part of the review:

(a) the National Rural Health Commissioner;

(b) the Regional Education Commissioner.

Timing of review

(4) The review must start as soon as practicable after the end of the period of 2 years after the commencement of this Act.

Review report

(5) The persons who conduct the review must give the Minister a written report of the review within 3 months of the commencement of the review.

(6) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the report is given to the Minister.

Government response to recommendations

(7) As soon as practicable, and in any event within 3 months, after the report is first tabled in a House of the Parliament, the Minister must cause:

(a) a statement, setting out the Commonwealth Government's response to each recommendation included in the report, to be prepared; and

(b) the statement to be published on the Department's website.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 4 Yes 0 No
Adam Bandt Melbourne Yes
Stephen Bates Brisbane Yes
Max Chandler-Mather Griffith Yes
Elizabeth Watson-Brown Ryan Yes
Australian Labor Party (93% turnout) 71 Yes 0 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler Yes
Anne Aly Cowan Yes
Michelle Ananda-Rajah Higgins Yes
Chris Bowen McMahon Yes
Tony Burke Watson Yes
Matt Burnell Spence Yes
Linda Burney Barton Yes
Josh Burns Macnamara Yes
Mark Butler Hindmarsh Yes
Alison Byrnes Cunningham Yes
Andrew Charlton Parramatta Yes
Lisa Chesters Bendigo Yes
Jason Clare Blaxland Yes
Sharon Claydon Newcastle Yes
Libby Coker Corangamite Yes
Julie Collins Franklin Yes
Pat Conroy Shortland Yes
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs Yes
Cassandra Fernando Holt Yes
Mike Freelander Macarthur Yes
Carina Garland Chisholm Yes
Steve Georganas Adelaide Yes
Andrew Giles Scullin Yes
Patrick Gorman Perth Yes
Luke Gosling Solomon Yes
Julian Hill Bruce Yes
Ed Husic Chifley Yes
Stephen Jones Whitlam Yes
Ged Kearney Cooper Yes
Matt Keogh Burt Yes
Peter Khalil Wills Yes
Catherine King Ballarat Yes
Madeleine King Brand Yes
Tania Lawrence Hasluck Yes
Jerome Laxale Bennelong Yes
Andrew Leigh Fenner Yes
Sam Lim Tangney Yes
Richard Marles Corio Yes
Zaneta Mascarenhas Swan Yes
Kristy McBain Eden-Monaro Yes
Emma McBride Dobell Yes
Brian Mitchell Lyons Yes
Rob Mitchell McEwen Yes
Daniel Mulino Fraser Yes
Shayne Neumann Blair Yes
Brendan O'Connor Gorton Yes
Clare O'Neil Hotham Yes
Alicia Payne Canberra Yes
Graham Perrett Moreton Yes
Fiona Phillips Gilmore Yes
Tanya Plibersek Sydney Yes
Gordon Reid Robertson Yes
Dan Repacholi Hunter Yes
Amanda Rishworth Kingston Yes
Tracey Roberts Pearce Yes
Michelle Rowland Greenway Yes
Joanne Ryan Lalor Yes
Marion Scrymgour Lingiari Yes
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Yes
Sally Sitou Reid Yes
David Smith Bean Yes
Anne Stanley Werriwa Yes
Meryl Swanson Paterson Yes
Susan Templeman Macquarie Yes
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith Yes
Kate Thwaites Jagajaga Yes
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell Yes
Tim Watts Gellibrand Yes
Anika Wells Lilley Yes
Josh Wilson Fremantle Yes
Tony Zappia Makin Yes
Jim Chalmers Rankin Absent
Justine Elliot Richmond Absent
Louise Miller-Frost Boothby Absent
Peta Murphy Dunkley Absent
Sam Rae Hawke Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance No
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker No
Zoe Daniel Goldstein Independent Yes
Monique Ryan Kooyong Independent Yes
Sophie Scamps Mackellar Independent Yes
Kate Chaney Curtin Independent No
Helen Haines Indi Independent No
Dai Le Fowler Independent No
Allegra Spender Wentworth Independent No
Zali Steggall Warringah Independent No
Kylea Tink North Sydney Independent No
Andrew Wilkie Clark Independent No
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal National Party (100% turnout) 0 Yes 8 No
Angie Bell Moncrieff No
Colin Boyce Flynn No
Garth Hamilton Groom No
Henry Pike Bowman No
Phillip Thompson Herbert No
Andrew Wallace Fisher No
Andrew Willcox Dawson No
Terry Young Longman No
Liberal Party (94% turnout) 0 Yes 34 No
Karen Andrews McPherson No
Bridget Archer Bass No
Russell Broadbent Monash No
Scott Buchholz Wright No
David Coleman Banks No
Peter Dutton Dickson No
Warren Entsch Leichhardt No
Paul Fletcher Bradfield No
Ian Goodenough Moore No
Andrew Hastie Canning No
Alex Hawke Mitchell No
Luke Howarth Petrie No
Julian Leeser Berowra No
Sussan Ley Farrer No
Nola Marino Forrest No
Melissa McIntosh Lindsay No
Zoe McKenzie Flinders No
Scott Morrison Cook No
Ted O'Brien Fairfax No
Tony Pasin Barker No
Gavin Pearce Braddon No
Melissa Price Durack No
Rowan Ramsey Grey No
Stuart Robert Fadden No
James Stevens Sturt No
Michael Sukkar Deakin No
Angus Taylor Hume No
Dan Tehan Wannon No
Alan Tudge Aston No
Ross Vasta Bonner No
Aaron Violi Casey No
Jenny Ware Hughes No
Rick Wilson O'Connor No
Keith Wolahan Menzies No
Bert Van Manen Forde Absent
Jason Wood La Trobe Absent
National Party (85% turnout) 0 Yes 11 No
Sam Birrell Nicholls No
Pat Conaghan Cowper 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
Anne Webster Mallee No
Darren Chester Gippsland Absent
Andrew Gee Calare Absent
Milton Dick Oxley Speaker Absent
Totals (93% turnout) 78 Yes – 62 No