Summary

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This division relates to the Policy For limiting availability of welfare payments.

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

The bill will now be returned to the House of Representatives for them to consider the amendment agreed to in the Senate during the in committee stage.(See the transcript for the in committee stage here. ) The amendment removed all references to the Child Care Benefit in the bill. Labor Senator Kim Carr, who introduced the amendment, explained that it "effectively will split the bill" and "will allow the Senate ... to consider the change to the childcare rebate as a separate issue".(See Mr Carr's full explanation here. Read Liberal Senator Marise Payne's explanation for why the Government agreed to this amendment here. )

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced primarily to amend the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 in order to:

  • maintain the indexation pause on the Child Care Rebate (CCR) limit at $7500 for three years from 1 July 2014; and
  • maintain the Child Care Benefit (CCB) income thresholds at the amounts applicable as at 30 June 2014 for three years from 1 July 2014.

However, this latter measure (i.e. the changes to the CCB income threshold) has been removed by the amendment introduced by Senator Carr (mentioned above).

Normally, the CCR limit and CCB income test thresholds are indexed on an annual basis to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). These measures constitute a freeze on the annual indexation of these amounts.(Read more about these measure in the bills digest. )

The Government announced this freeze on the indexation of the CCB income test threshold in the 2014–15 Budget. It is part of a broader measure that affects the indexation of income test thresholds for major welfare payments.(Read more about the background to the bill in the bills digest.)

Votes Passed by a modest majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 0 Yes 9 No
Richard Di Natale Victoria No
Sarah Hanson-Young SA No
Scott Ludlam WA No
Christine Milne Tasmania No
Lee Rhiannon NSW No
Rachel Siewert WA No
Larissa Waters Queensland No
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania No
Penny Wright SA No
Australian Labor Party (80% turnout) 24 Yes 0 No
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania Yes
Mark Bishop WA Yes
Carol Brown Tasmania Yes
Doug Cameron NSW Yes
Kim Carr Victoria Yes
Jacinta Collins Victoria Yes
Stephen Conroy Victoria Yes
John Faulkner NSW Yes
Mark Furner Queensland Yes
Alex Gallacher SA Yes
Sue Lines WA Yes
Joe Ludwig Queensland Yes
Kate Lundy ACT Yes
Gavin Marshall Victoria Yes
Anne McEwen SA Yes
Claire Moore Queensland Yes
Deborah O'Neill NSW Yes
Nova Peris NT Yes
Helen Polley Tasmania Yes
Lisa Singh Tasmania Yes
Glenn Sterle WA Yes
Lin Thorp Tasmania Yes
Mehmet Tillem Victoria Yes
Anne Urquhart Tasmania Yes
Sam Dastyari NSW Absent
Don Farrell SA Absent
Jan McLucas Queensland Absent
Louise Pratt WA Absent
Ursula Stephens NSW Absent
Penny Wong SA Absent
Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party Yes
John Madigan Victoria Democratic Labor Party Absent
Stephen Parry Tasmania Deputy President Absent
Nick Xenophon SA Independent No
Liberal Party (41% turnout) 11 Yes 0 No
Christopher Back WA Yes
Cory Bernardi SA Yes
Simon Birmingham SA Yes
Sue Boyce Queensland Yes
David Bushby Tasmania Yes
Helen Kroger Victoria Yes
Ian Macdonald Queensland Yes
Marise Payne NSW Yes
Anne Ruston SA Yes
Zed Seselja ACT Yes
Dean Smith WA Yes
Eric Abetz Tasmania Absent
George Brandis Queensland Absent
Michaelia Cash WA Absent
Richard Colbeck Tasmania Absent
Mathias Cormann WA Absent
Sean Edwards SA Absent
Alan Eggleston WA Absent
David Fawcett SA Absent
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW Absent
Mitch Fifield Victoria Absent
Bill Heffernan NSW Absent
David Johnston WA Absent
Brett Mason Queensland Absent
Michael Ronaldson Victoria Absent
Scott Ryan Victoria Absent
Arthur Sinodinos NSW Absent
National Party (60% turnout) 3 Yes 0 No
Bridget McKenzie Victoria Yes
Barry O'Sullivan Queensland Yes
John Williams NSW Yes
Ron Boswell Queensland Absent
Fiona Nash NSW Absent
Nick Xenophon SA Nick Xenophon Team Absent
John Hogg Queensland President Absent
Totals (64% turnout) 39 Yes – 10 No