Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to put the question, which in this case was whether the Senate agreed with the motion put by Senator George Brandis. Because this motion was successful, debate on the question ended and Senator Brandis' motion was immediately put to the Senate.(See that division here. )

Background to the bill

This bill was introduced following the lapse of the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2009 and relates to the regulation of consumer protection, competition and licensing in telecommunications markets. According to the bills digest, significant changes made by this bill include:

  • improving the conditions for competition in telecommunications markets by requiring Telstra to be structurally or functionally separated
  • making the telecommunications access regime less susceptible to deliberate delay and obstruction
  • removing a technical impediment to the operation of the anti-competitive conduct regime applying to telecommunications markets
  • clarifying the universal service obligation (USO) and customer service guarantee (CSG) to make it more enforceable
  • extending the obligation to provide priority assistance to those with life threatening conditions to service providers other than Telstra, and
  • enabling breaches of civil penalty provisions - including some concerning the USO and the CSG - to be dealt with by issuing infringement notices.(More information about the bill is available in its bills digest.)

With these measures, the bill seeks to address the issues that result from the monopoly caused by Telstra's vertically and horizontally integrated telecommunications network.

Although this bill is substantially the same as the earlier bill of the same name, it does have some additional provisions.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (80% turnout) 4 Yes 0 No
Bob Brown Tasmania Yes
Scott Ludlam WA Yes
Christine Milne Tasmania Yes
Rachel Siewert WA Yes
Sarah Hanson-Young SA Absent
Australian Labor Party (81% turnout) 25 Yes 0 No
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania Yes
Mark Bishop WA Yes
Carol Brown Tasmania Yes
Doug Cameron NSW Yes
Kim Carr Victoria Yes
Stephen Conroy Victoria Yes
Trish Crossin NT Yes
Chris Evans WA Yes
John Faulkner NSW Yes
David Feeney Victoria Yes
Michael Forshaw NSW Yes
Mark Furner Queensland Yes
Joe Ludwig Queensland Yes
Kate Lundy ACT Yes
Gavin Marshall Victoria Yes
Anne McEwen SA Yes
Jan McLucas Queensland Yes
Claire Moore Queensland Yes
Helen Polley Tasmania Yes
Louise Pratt WA Yes
Nick Sherry Tasmania Yes
Ursula Stephens NSW Yes
Glenn Sterle WA Yes
Penny Wong SA Yes
Dana Wortley SA Yes
Mark Arbib NSW Absent
Jacinta Collins Victoria Absent
Don Farrell SA Absent
Annette Hurley SA Absent
Steve Hutchins NSW Absent
Kerry O'Brien Tasmania Absent
Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party No
Alan Ferguson SA Deputy President Absent
Steve Fielding Victoria Family First Party Yes
Nick Xenophon SA Independent Yes
Liberal Party (77% turnout) 0 Yes 23 No
Guy Barnett Tasmania No
Cory Bernardi SA No
Simon Birmingham SA No
Sue Boyce Queensland No
George Brandis Queensland No
David Bushby Tasmania No
Michaelia Cash WA No
Richard Colbeck Tasmania No
Helen Coonan NSW No
Alan Eggleston WA No
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW No
Mitch Fifield Victoria No
Mary Fisher SA No
Bill Heffernan NSW No
Gary Humphries ACT No
David Johnston WA No
Helen Kroger Victoria No
Ian Macdonald Queensland No
Brett Mason Queensland No
Stephen Parry Tasmania No
Scott Ryan Victoria No
Judith Troeth Victoria No
Russell Trood Queensland No
Eric Abetz Tasmania Absent
Judith Adams WA Absent
Christopher Back WA Absent
Mathias Cormann WA Absent
Nick Minchin SA Absent
Marise Payne NSW Absent
Michael Ronaldson Victoria Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 0 Yes 5 No
Ron Boswell Queensland No
Barnaby Joyce Queensland No
Julian McGauran Victoria No
Fiona Nash NSW No
John Williams NSW No
John Hogg Queensland President Absent
Totals (79% turnout) 31 Yes – 29 No