Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion "that the bill be agreed to." This means that the bill has passed in the House of Representatives and will now be sent to the Senate for their consideration.

What does this bill do?

According to the bills digest (which is a document prepared by the parliamentary library):

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Reserve Bank Reforms) Bill 2023 (the Bill) amends the Reserve Bank Act 1959 to improve the governance of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) by establishing a new Governance Board and a new Monetary Policy Board. The amendments are part of the Government’s response to the recommendations of the Review of the Reserve Bank entitled: An RBA fit for the future.

The functions of the Governance Board are, amongst other things:

  • to oversee, and determine policies for, the management and organisational affairs of the RBA

  • to determine the policies of the RBA for the performance of the RBA’s functions in relation to delivering banking services to the Commonwealth and the issuing, re-issuing and cancelling Australian notes

  • to determine the policies of the RBA in relation to any matter not covered by the functions of the Monetary Policy Board or the Payments System Board.

The role of the Monetary Policy Board is to determine the monetary policy of the RBA in a way that, in the Board’s opinion, best contributes to price stability and the maintenance of full employment in Australia.

The functions of the existing Payments System Board are updated so that they are expressed in similar terms to those of the Governance Board and the Monetary Policy Board.

The Bill has been referred to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 21 March 2024.

Votes 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 (96% turnout) 74 Yes 0 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler Yes
Anne Aly Cowan Yes
Michelle Ananda-Rajah Higgins Yes
Jodie Belyea Dunkley 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
Jim Chalmers Rankin 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
Mary Doyle Aston Yes
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs Yes
Justine Elliot Richmond 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
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
Louise Miller-Frost Boothby Yes
Brian Mitchell Lyons Yes
Rob Mitchell McEwen Yes
Daniel Mulino Fraser Yes
Shayne Neumann Blair Yes
Clare O'Neil Hotham Yes
Alicia Payne Canberra Yes
Graham Perrett Moreton Yes
Fiona Phillips Gilmore Yes
Tanya Plibersek Sydney Yes
Sam Rae Hawke 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
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell Yes
Tim Watts Gellibrand Yes
Anika Wells Lilley Yes
Josh Wilson Fremantle Yes
Tony Zappia Makin Yes
Matt Keogh Burt Absent
Brendan O'Connor Gorton Absent
Kate Thwaites Jagajaga Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance No
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker No
Kate Chaney Curtin Independent Yes
Zoe Daniel Goldstein Independent Yes
Helen Haines Indi Independent Yes
Dai Le Fowler Independent Yes
Monique Ryan Kooyong Independent Yes
Allegra Spender Wentworth Independent Yes
Zali Steggall Warringah Independent Yes
Andrew Wilkie Clark Independent Yes
Russell Broadbent Monash Independent No
Andrew Gee Calare Independent No
Sophie Scamps Mackellar Independent Absent
Kylea Tink North Sydney Independent Absent
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal National Party (89% turnout) 0 Yes 8 No
Angie Bell Moncrieff No
Colin Boyce Flynn No
Cameron Caldwell Fadden No
Garth Hamilton Groom No
Henry Pike Bowman No
Andrew Wallace Fisher No
Andrew Willcox Dawson No
Terry Young Longman No
Phillip Thompson Herbert Absent
Liberal Party (94% turnout) 0 Yes 31 No
Karen Andrews McPherson No
Bridget Archer Bass 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
Simon Kennedy Cook No
Julian Leeser Berowra No
Sussan Ley Farrer No
Nola Marino Forrest No
Melissa McIntosh Lindsay No
Ted O'Brien Fairfax No
Gavin Pearce Braddon No
Melissa Price Durack No
Rowan Ramsey Grey No
James Stevens Sturt No
Michael Sukkar Deakin No
Angus Taylor Hume No
Dan Tehan Wannon No
Bert Van Manen Forde No
Ross Vasta Bonner No
Aaron Violi Casey No
Jenny Ware Hughes No
Rick Wilson O'Connor No
Keith Wolahan Menzies No
Jason Wood La Trobe No
Zoe McKenzie Flinders Absent
Tony Pasin Barker Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 0 Yes 12 No
Sam Birrell Nicholls No
Darren Chester Gippsland 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
Milton Dick Oxley Speaker Absent
Totals (93% turnout) 82 Yes – 59 No