4th Dec 2014, 10:42 AM – Senate Family Tax Benefit (Tighter Income Test) Bill 2014 - Second Reading - Agree with the bill's main idea

Almost every senator was against the main idea of the bill (in parliamentary jargon, they voted against reading the bill a second time). This means that the bill has been rejected and won't be discussed any more.

Only Liberal Democratic Party Senator David Leyonhjelm, who had introduced the bill, voted in favour of it.

Main idea of the bill

The bill was introduced to reduce the Family Tax Benefit Part A payments by 20% of any income in excess of the ‘income free area’ until the payment reaches zero.

Currently, the reduction is capped at a particular base rate so families whose income is more than the 'income free area' but less than the 'higher income free area' all receive at least that base rate. As Senator Leyonhjelm explained, this means that "[t]he welfare payment for a family with one child remains at $2,204.60 whether their income is around $70,000 or $90,000".

Why is only one senator voting 'aye'?

Usually, at least two senators need to call for a division in order for a division to occur. In this case, the Acting Deputy President had thought that there were two senators voting 'aye' and only realised his mistake after the division was called.

Background to the bill

The 2014-15 Budget was designed to reduce government spending and start bringing the budget back to surplus. However, many of the measures proposed in the Budget have been very unpopular and have not passed through Parliament.

This bill is an attempt by Senator Leyonhjelm to contribute towards reducing the current budget deficit.