Summary

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The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (reading a bill for a second time is parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). This amendment was introduced by Barker MP Tony Pasin (Liberal).

Amendment text

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House notes that the bill is deficient in a number of respects including that:

(1) more than three million Australians have a HECS debt or other type of student debt under the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) scheme which increased by a massive 7.1 per cent on 1 June 2023, the highest indexation rate in more than 30 years, as a result of the Government's cost of living crisis and sky-high inflation rate;

(2) by proposing to abolish the Coalition's 50 per cent pass rule, the Government has failed to protect students at high risk of not completing their course from accumulating debilitating HECS debts and suffering acute financial hardship;

(3) the Government's reliance on a 'survey' of 27 universities to justify the abolition of the 50 per cent pass rule indicates that the Government has not been able to access the relevant data as to how many students are impacted by this measure, reflecting a poor adherence to evidence-based policy;

(4) in proposing to uncap Commonwealth supported places (CSPs) available to Indigenous students living in metropolitan areas which extends the Coalition's measure to uncap CSPs for Indigenous students living in regional and remote Australia, the Government has not explained how it will hold universities to account for poor completion rates by Indigenous students which currently sees only 26 per cent of Indigenous students complete their undergraduate degree within four years, with 37 per cent of students dropping out during that period;

(5) by reason that the Government is proposing to release a consultation paper on its proposed support-for-students policy, it is clear that the Government has not done its homework on this policy nor determined the basis on which universities would be fined as proposed by the bill;

(6) the bill fails to impose on universities a strong accountability and transparency framework including fair and just access to student refunds and the requirement that universities must publish all relevant course information including out-of-pocket costs, total costs, completion rates, modes of course delivery, and employment outcomes;

(7) the Government needs to be transparent with taxpayers regarding how much its changes to the higher education system will cost and how it will pay for them; and

(8) given its deficiencies, the bill should be referred to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee for inquiry".

Votes Not passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 0 Yes 4 No
Adam Bandt Melbourne No
Stephen Bates Brisbane No
Max Chandler-Mather Griffith No
Elizabeth Watson-Brown Ryan No
Australian Labor Party (95% turnout) 0 Yes 73 No
Anne Aly Cowan No
Michelle Ananda-Rajah Higgins No
Chris Bowen McMahon No
Tony Burke Watson No
Matt Burnell Spence No
Linda Burney Barton No
Josh Burns Macnamara No
Mark Butler Hindmarsh No
Alison Byrnes Cunningham No
Jim Chalmers Rankin No
Andrew Charlton Parramatta 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
Mary Doyle Aston No
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs No
Justine Elliot Richmond No
Cassandra Fernando Holt No
Mike Freelander Macarthur No
Carina Garland Chisholm No
Steve Georganas Adelaide No
Andrew Giles Scullin No
Patrick Gorman Perth No
Luke Gosling Solomon 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
Catherine King Ballarat No
Madeleine King Brand No
Tania Lawrence Hasluck No
Jerome Laxale Bennelong No
Andrew Leigh Fenner No
Sam Lim Tangney No
Richard Marles Corio No
Zaneta Mascarenhas Swan No
Kristy McBain Eden-Monaro No
Emma McBride Dobell No
Louise Miller-Frost Boothby No
Brian Mitchell Lyons No
Rob Mitchell McEwen No
Daniel Mulino Fraser No
Shayne Neumann Blair No
Brendan O'Connor Gorton No
Clare O'Neil Hotham No
Fiona Phillips Gilmore No
Tanya Plibersek Sydney No
Sam Rae Hawke No
Gordon Reid Robertson No
Dan Repacholi Hunter No
Amanda Rishworth Kingston No
Tracey Roberts Pearce No
Michelle Rowland Greenway No
Joanne Ryan Lalor No
Marion Scrymgour Lingiari No
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong No
Sally Sitou Reid No
David Smith Bean No
Anne Stanley Werriwa No
Meryl Swanson Paterson No
Susan Templeman Macquarie No
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith No
Kate Thwaites Jagajaga No
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell No
Tim Watts Gellibrand No
Anika Wells Lilley No
Josh Wilson Fremantle No
Tony Zappia Makin No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler Absent
Peta Murphy Dunkley Absent
Alicia Payne Canberra Absent
Graham Perrett Moreton Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance No
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker Yes
Kate Chaney Curtin Independent No
Zoe Daniel Goldstein Independent No
Helen Haines Indi Independent No
Dai Le Fowler Independent No
Sophie Scamps Mackellar Independent No
Allegra Spender Wentworth Independent No
Zali Steggall Warringah Independent No
Kylea Tink North Sydney Independent No
Andrew Wilkie Clark Independent No
Andrew Gee Calare Independent Absent
Monique Ryan Kooyong Independent Absent
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party No
Liberal National Party (89% turnout) 8 Yes 0 No
Angie Bell Moncrieff Yes
Colin Boyce Flynn Yes
Cameron Caldwell Fadden Yes
Henry Pike Bowman Yes
Phillip Thompson Herbert Yes
Andrew Wallace Fisher Yes
Andrew Willcox Dawson Yes
Terry Young Longman Yes
Garth Hamilton Groom Absent
Liberal Party (88% turnout) 30 Yes 0 No
Karen Andrews McPherson Yes
Bridget Archer Bass Yes
Russell Broadbent Monash Yes
David Coleman Banks Yes
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Yes
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Andrew Hastie Canning Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Luke Howarth Petrie Yes
Julian Leeser Berowra Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Melissa McIntosh Lindsay Yes
Zoe McKenzie Flinders Yes
Scott Morrison Cook Yes
Tony Pasin Barker Yes
Gavin Pearce Braddon Yes
Melissa Price Durack Yes
Rowan Ramsey Grey Yes
James Stevens Sturt Yes
Michael Sukkar Deakin Yes
Angus Taylor Hume Yes
Dan Tehan Wannon Yes
Bert Van Manen Forde Yes
Ross Vasta Bonner Yes
Aaron Violi Casey Yes
Jenny Ware Hughes Yes
Rick Wilson O'Connor Yes
Keith Wolahan Menzies Yes
Jason Wood La Trobe Yes
Scott Buchholz Wright Absent
Peter Dutton Dickson Absent
Nola Marino Forrest Absent
Ted O'Brien Fairfax Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 12 Yes 0 No
Sam Birrell Nicholls Yes
Darren Chester Gippsland Yes
Pat Conaghan Cowper Yes
David Gillespie Lyne Yes
Kevin Hogan Page Yes
Barnaby Joyce New England Yes
Michelle Landry Capricornia Yes
David Littleproud Maranoa Yes
Michael McCormack Riverina Yes
Llew O'Brien Wide Bay Yes
Keith Pitt Hinkler Yes
Anne Webster Mallee Yes
Milton Dick Oxley Speaker Absent
Totals (92% turnout) 51 Yes – 88 No