Summary

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The majority voted against a motion introduced by Scott Ludlam, which means it was unsuccessful. The motion called for no Australians to be fined for not completing the census in light of the technical failures and privacy concerns.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) the technical failures of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) website on Census night, 9 August 2016, prevented thousands of people completing the Census,

(ii) subsequent attempts to address the technical failures further added to confusion and impacted public confidence in the Census process,

(iii) the Census website was offline for several days after census night, and sporadically offline in the following weeks, and

(iv) thousands of Australians were unable to complete the Census, and thousands of Australians were reluctant to do so due to privacy concerns; and

(b) calls on the Government to direct the ABS to issue a statement declaring that no Australians will be fined for failing to complete the Census.

Votes Not passed by a modest majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 9 Yes 0 No
Richard Di Natale Victoria Yes
Sarah Hanson-Young SA Yes
Scott Ludlam WA Yes
Nick McKim Tasmania Yes
Lee Rhiannon NSW Yes
Janet Rice Victoria Yes
Rachel Siewert WA Yes
Larissa Waters Queensland Yes
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania Yes
Australian Labor Party (65% turnout) 0 Yes 17 No
Doug Cameron NSW No
Kim Carr Victoria No
Anthony Chisholm Queensland No
Patrick Dodson WA No
Don Farrell SA No
Alex Gallacher SA No
Katy Gallagher ACT No
Chris Ketter Queensland No
Sue Lines WA No
Jenny McAllister NSW No
Malarndirri McCarthy NT No
Claire Moore Queensland No
Deborah O'Neill NSW No
Helen Polley Tasmania No
Louise Pratt WA No
Anne Urquhart Tasmania No
Murray Watt Queensland No
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania Absent
Carol Brown Tasmania Absent
Jacinta Collins Victoria Absent
Stephen Conroy Victoria Absent
Sam Dastyari NSW Absent
Gavin Marshall Victoria Absent
Lisa Singh Tasmania Absent
Glenn Sterle WA Absent
Penny Wong SA Absent
Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party No
Derryn Hinch Victoria Derryn Hinch's Justice Party Yes
Gavin Marshall Victoria Deputy President No
Bob Day SA Family First Party Yes
Jacqui Lambie Tasmania Independent Yes
Nick Xenophon SA Independent Yes
David Leyonhjelm NSW Liberal Democratic Party Absent
Liberal National Party (100% turnout) 0 Yes 2 No
Matthew Canavan Queensland No
James McGrath Queensland No
Liberal Party (68% turnout) 0 Yes 15 No
Eric Abetz Tasmania No
Christopher Back WA No
David Bushby Tasmania No
Michaelia Cash WA No
Jonathon Duniam Tasmania No
David Fawcett SA No
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW No
Mitch Fifield Victoria No
Jane Hume Victoria No
Ian Macdonald Queensland No
Marise Payne NSW No
Linda Reynolds WA No
Anne Ruston SA No
Zed Seselja ACT No
Dean Smith WA No
Cory Bernardi SA Absent
Simon Birmingham SA Absent
George Brandis Queensland Absent
Mathias Cormann WA Absent
James Paterson Victoria Absent
Scott Ryan Victoria Absent
Arthur Sinodinos NSW Absent
National Party (75% turnout) 0 Yes 3 No
Fiona Nash NSW No
Barry O'Sullivan Queensland No
John Williams NSW No
Bridget McKenzie Victoria Absent
Nick Xenophon Team (67% turnout) 2 Yes 0 No
Stirling Griff SA Yes
Skye Kakoschke-Moore SA Yes
Nick Xenophon SA Absent
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party (25% turnout) 1 Yes 0 No
Brian Burston NSW Yes
Rod Culleton WA Absent
Pauline Hanson Queensland Absent
Malcolm Roberts Queensland Absent
Stephen Parry Tasmania President No
Totals (74% turnout) 16 Yes – 40 No