Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill for a second time.(Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through to become law here. ) This means that the majority agree with the main idea of the bill.

Background to the bill

The bill would require that bovine meat and meat products must meet certain assessment processes before being imported into Australia and that the minister determines a country of origin labelling standard for those products.(Read more about the bill, including the text of the bill here. )

Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck explained that the bill has been introduced "following the Rudd Government’s decision to allow the importation of beef and beef products from countries that had reported any cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)" (also known as mad cow disease).(Read Senator Colbeck's whole explanation of the bill here. Read more about the Rudd Government's decision to allow imports on ABC's AM Program here. ) This decision means that such importations could take place from 1 March 2010. Since 2001, measures have been in place "to protect the public and the beef industry from potentially contaminated beef products".(As above.)

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 5 Yes 0 No
Bob Brown Tasmania Yes
Sarah Hanson-Young SA Yes
Scott Ludlam WA Yes
Christine Milne Tasmania Yes
Rachel Siewert WA Yes
Australian Labor Party (81% turnout) 0 Yes 25 No
Mark Arbib NSW No
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania No
Mark Bishop WA No
Carol Brown Tasmania No
Doug Cameron NSW No
Kim Carr Victoria No
Jacinta Collins Victoria No
Stephen Conroy Victoria No
Don Farrell SA No
John Faulkner NSW No
David Feeney Victoria No
Michael Forshaw NSW No
Mark Furner Queensland No
Annette Hurley SA No
Steve Hutchins NSW No
Joe Ludwig Queensland No
Gavin Marshall Victoria No
Anne McEwen SA No
Jan McLucas Queensland No
Claire Moore Queensland No
Kerry O'Brien Tasmania No
Helen Polley Tasmania No
Louise Pratt WA No
Ursula Stephens NSW No
Glenn Sterle WA No
Trish Crossin NT Absent
Chris Evans WA Absent
Kate Lundy ACT Absent
Nick Sherry Tasmania Absent
Penny Wong SA Absent
Dana Wortley SA Absent
Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party Absent
Alan Ferguson SA Deputy President Absent
Steve Fielding Victoria Family First Party Yes
Nick Xenophon SA Independent Yes
Liberal Party (83% turnout) 25 Yes 0 No
Eric Abetz Tasmania Yes
Judith Adams WA Yes
Christopher Back WA Yes
Guy Barnett Tasmania Yes
Cory Bernardi SA Yes
Simon Birmingham SA Yes
Sue Boyce Queensland Yes
George Brandis Queensland Yes
David Bushby Tasmania Yes
Michaelia Cash WA Yes
Richard Colbeck Tasmania Yes
Mitch Fifield Victoria Yes
Mary Fisher SA Yes
Bill Heffernan NSW Yes
Gary Humphries ACT Yes
David Johnston WA Yes
Ian Macdonald Queensland Yes
Brett Mason Queensland Yes
Nick Minchin SA Yes
Stephen Parry Tasmania Yes
Marise Payne NSW Yes
Michael Ronaldson Victoria Yes
Scott Ryan Victoria Yes
Judith Troeth Victoria Yes
Russell Trood Queensland Yes
Helen Coonan NSW Absent
Mathias Cormann WA Absent
Alan Eggleston WA Absent
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW Absent
Helen Kroger Victoria Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 5 Yes 0 No
Ron Boswell Queensland Yes
Barnaby Joyce Queensland Yes
Julian McGauran Victoria Yes
Fiona Nash NSW Yes
John Williams NSW Yes
John Hogg Queensland President No
Totals (83% turnout) 37 Yes – 26 No