Summary

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The majority agreed with the bill's main idea (in parliamentary jargon, they voted in favour of giving the bill a second reading). This means that the senators can now discuss the bill in more detail.

Main idea of the bill

The bill creates an Emissions Reduction Fund so the Government can buy domestic greenhouse gas emissions reductions and offsets by reverse auction. It also makes some changes to the Carbon Farming Initiative, like introducing a 25-year-long option for carbon sequestration projects (right now all projects have to run for 100 years).

Carbon Farming Initiative

The Carbon Farming Initiative lets farmers and land managers earn carbon credits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and storing carbon in vegetation and soils by changing their agricultural and land management practices.

Background to the bill

The Emissions Reduction Fund is a key part of the Coalition Government's Direct Action policy, which was an election commitment. It will replace the carbon price as the main part of the Australian Government's effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Australia has agreed with the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which means that Australia has agreed to reduce emissions by five per cent of 2000 levels by 2020.

Read more about the changes made by the bill in the bills digest.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (90% 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
Janet Rice Victoria No
Rachel Siewert WA No
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania No
Penny Wright SA No
Larissa Waters Queensland Absent
Australian Labor Party (71% turnout) 0 Yes 17 No
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania No
Joe Bullock WA No
Doug Cameron NSW No
Jacinta Collins Victoria No
Stephen Conroy Victoria No
Sam Dastyari NSW No
John Faulkner NSW No
Alex Gallacher SA No
Chris Ketter Queensland No
Sue Lines WA No
Anne McEwen SA No
Jan McLucas Queensland No
Claire Moore Queensland No
Deborah O'Neill NSW No
Lisa Singh Tasmania No
Anne Urquhart Tasmania No
Penny Wong SA No
Carol Brown Tasmania Absent
Kim Carr Victoria Absent
Joe Ludwig Queensland Absent
Kate Lundy ACT Absent
Nova Peris NT Absent
Helen Polley Tasmania Absent
Glenn Sterle WA Absent
Ricky Muir Victoria Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party Yes
Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party Absent
John Madigan Victoria Democratic Labor Party Yes
Gavin Marshall Victoria Deputy President No
Bob Day SA Family First Party No
Nick Xenophon SA Independent Yes
John Madigan Victoria Independent Absent
David Leyonhjelm NSW Liberal Democratic Party No
Liberal National Party (50% turnout) 1 Yes 0 No
Matthew Canavan Queensland Yes
James McGrath Queensland Absent
Liberal Party (76% turnout) 19 Yes 0 No
Eric Abetz Tasmania Yes
Cory Bernardi SA Yes
Simon Birmingham SA Yes
David Bushby Tasmania Yes
Michaelia Cash WA Yes
Richard Colbeck Tasmania Yes
Mathias Cormann WA Yes
Sean Edwards SA Yes
David Fawcett SA Yes
Mitch Fifield Victoria Yes
Bill Heffernan NSW Yes
David Johnston WA Yes
Ian Macdonald Queensland Yes
Brett Mason Queensland Yes
Marise Payne NSW Yes
Michael Ronaldson Victoria Yes
Anne Ruston SA Yes
Zed Seselja ACT Yes
Arthur Sinodinos NSW Yes
Christopher Back WA Absent
George Brandis Queensland Absent
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW Absent
Linda Reynolds WA Absent
Scott Ryan Victoria Absent
Dean Smith WA Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 4 Yes 0 No
Bridget McKenzie Victoria Yes
Fiona Nash NSW Yes
Barry O'Sullivan Queensland Yes
John Williams NSW Yes
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 Yes
Totals (79% turnout) 31 Yes – 29 No