edited
10th Oct 2014
Asset Recycling Fund Bill 2014 and Asset Recycling Fund (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014 — Consideration in Detail — Governance of grants
Not passed by a small majority
No rebellions 92% attendance
17th Jul 2014, 2:01 PM – Senate Asset Recycling Fund Bill 2014 and Asset Recycling Fund (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014 — In Committee — Education Investment Fund
Summary
EditThe 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 |
Turnout is the percentage of members eligible to vote that did vote.