Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion "that amendments (1) to (5) and (14) to (16) be agreed to",(Read the amendments here. ) which means that they were successful. The amendments were introduced by Labor Senator Kim Carr.

Senator Carr explained that the purpose of the amendments is to "save the Education Investment Fund" ('EIF'),(Read Senator Carr's full explanation of the amendment and the related debate here, after 1.35 pm. ) which the bill in its current form will abolish after its funds are redirected to the newly created Asset Recycling Fund. The EIF was established by the Nation-building Funds Act 2008 to replace the Higher Education Endowment Fund (HEEF). It provides funding to projects that "create or develop significant infrastructure in higher education, research and vocational education and training institutions".(Read more about the EIF here. )

Background to the bills

The Asset Recycling Fund Bill 2014 and the related Asset Recycling Fund (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014 were introduced to create the Asset Recycling Fund ('ARF').

The ARF is the fund from which grants to states and territories will be sourced under the Asset Recycling Initiative ('ARI'), which was developed to assist states to privatise assets and to speed up the construction of transport infrastructure in capital cities.(Read the Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss's comments on the initiative on ABC's PM program here. ) Under the ARI, states and territories will be encouraged to sell assets, including transport infrastructure, and use the proceeds to fund new public infrastructure. By way of encouragement, the Commonwealth will provide a financial contribution of 15 per cent of the asset value of the sale that is used to fund the new infrastructure.(See the bills digest for more information. )

The Council of Australian Governments voted in favour of the ARI on 2 May 2014.(Read more about COAG's decision to agree with the ARI on ABC News here.)

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 10 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
Janet Rice Victoria Yes
Rachel Siewert WA Yes
Larissa Waters Queensland Yes
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania Yes
Penny Wright SA Yes
Australian Labor Party (83% turnout) 20 Yes 0 No
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania Yes
Joe Bullock WA Yes
Doug Cameron NSW Yes
Kim Carr Victoria Yes
Jacinta Collins Victoria Yes
Stephen Conroy Victoria Yes
Sam Dastyari NSW Yes
John Faulkner NSW Yes
Chris Ketter Queensland Yes
Joe Ludwig Queensland Yes
Kate Lundy ACT Yes
Anne McEwen SA Yes
Jan McLucas Queensland 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
Anne Urquhart Tasmania Yes
Carol Brown Tasmania Absent
Alex Gallacher SA Absent
Sue Lines WA Absent
Penny Wong SA Absent
Ricky Muir Victoria Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party Yes
Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party No
John Madigan Victoria Democratic Labor Party Absent
Gavin Marshall Victoria Deputy President Yes
Bob Day SA Family First Party No
David Leyonhjelm NSW Liberal Democratic Party No
Liberal National Party (100% turnout) 0 Yes 2 No
Matthew Canavan Queensland No
James McGrath Queensland No
Liberal Party (88% turnout) 0 Yes 22 No
Eric Abetz Tasmania No
Christopher Back WA No
Simon Birmingham SA 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
David Fawcett SA No
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW No
Mitch Fifield Victoria No
Bill Heffernan NSW No
David Johnston WA No
Ian Macdonald Queensland No
Marise Payne NSW No
Linda Reynolds WA No
Anne Ruston SA No
Scott Ryan Victoria No
Zed Seselja ACT No
Arthur Sinodinos NSW No
Dean Smith WA No
Cory Bernardi SA Absent
Brett Mason Queensland Absent
Michael Ronaldson Victoria Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 0 Yes 4 No
Bridget McKenzie Victoria No
Fiona Nash NSW No
Barry O'Sullivan Queensland No
John Williams NSW No
Nick Xenophon SA Nick Xenophon Team Absent
Palmer United Party (100% turnout) 3 Yes 0 No
Jacqui Lambie Tasmania Yes
Glenn Lazarus Queensland Yes
Dio Wang WA Yes
Stephen Parry Tasmania President No
Totals (88% turnout) 35 Yes – 32 No