Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bills a second time.

This means that the senators have agreed to the main idea of the bills and will now discuss them in detail.

The seven bills are:

Background to the bills

The seven bills are designed to link Australia’s carbon pricing mechanism to overseas emissions trading schemes from 1 July 2015, which is when the Australian carbon pricing mechanism is scheduled to transition to an emissions trading scheme.(For more information on the carbon pricing mechanism and how it works, please see the Clean Energy Regulator’s website.)

This means that Australian "liable entities" (a group that includes companies that emit a high level of greenhouse gases) will be able to trade carbon units with credible overseas emissions trading schemes such as the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme. Such businesses will be able to use eligible international carbon units to meet up to 50 per cent of their annual liability.

References

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 9 Yes 0 No
Richard Di Natale Victoria Yes
Sarah Hanson-Young SA Yes
Scott Ludlam WA Yes
Christine Milne Tasmania Yes
Lee Rhiannon NSW Yes
Rachel Siewert WA Yes
Larissa Waters Queensland Yes
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania Yes
Penny Wright SA Yes
Australian Labor Party (83% turnout) 25 Yes 0 No
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania Yes
Mark Bishop WA Yes
Carol Brown Tasmania Yes
Doug Cameron NSW Yes
Bob Carr NSW Yes
Jacinta Collins Victoria Yes
Stephen Conroy Victoria Yes
Trish Crossin NT Yes
Chris Evans WA Yes
Don Farrell SA Yes
John Faulkner NSW Yes
David Feeney Victoria Yes
Alex Gallacher SA Yes
Joe Ludwig Queensland Yes
Gavin Marshall Victoria Yes
Anne McEwen SA Yes
Jan McLucas Queensland Yes
Claire Moore Queensland Yes
Helen Polley Tasmania Yes
Lisa Singh Tasmania Yes
Ursula Stephens NSW Yes
Glenn Sterle WA Yes
Matt Thistlethwaite NSW Yes
Lin Thorp Tasmania Yes
Anne Urquhart Tasmania Yes
Kim Carr Victoria Absent
Mark Furner Queensland Absent
Kate Lundy ACT Absent
Louise Pratt WA Absent
Penny Wong SA Absent
Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party No
John Madigan Victoria Democratic Labor Party No
Stephen Parry Tasmania Deputy President No
Nick Xenophon SA Independent Absent
Liberal Party (89% turnout) 0 Yes 24 No
Eric Abetz Tasmania No
Christopher Back WA 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
Mathias Cormann WA No
Sean Edwards SA No
Alan Eggleston WA No
David Fawcett SA No
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW No
Bill Heffernan NSW No
Gary Humphries ACT No
Helen Kroger Victoria No
Ian Macdonald Queensland No
Brett Mason Queensland No
Marise Payne NSW No
Michael Ronaldson Victoria No
Anne Ruston SA No
Scott Ryan Victoria No
Dean Smith WA No
Mitch Fifield Victoria Absent
David Johnston WA Absent
Arthur Sinodinos NSW Absent
National Party (40% turnout) 0 Yes 2 No
Fiona Nash NSW No
John Williams NSW No
Ron Boswell Queensland Absent
Barnaby Joyce Queensland Absent
Bridget McKenzie Victoria Absent
John Hogg Queensland President Yes
Totals (84% turnout) 35 Yes – 29 No