edited
24th Jun 2017
Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017, Commercial Broadcasting (Tax) Bill 2017 - Second Reading - Agree to bills' main idea
Passed by a small majority
No rebellions 95% attendance
13th Sep 2017, 10:15 PM – Senate Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017, Commercial Broadcasting (Tax) Bill 2017 - Second Reading - Audio description service
Summary
EditThe majority voted in favour of an amendment introduced by WA Senator Rachel Siewert (Greens). The amendment changes the second motion text - which is normally "That these bills be now read a second time" - by adding:
"but the Senate is of the opinion that all free-to-air television broadcasters should use the financial relief afforded by the reduction in licensing fees to offer audio description services for people who are blind or vision-impaired, and ensure provisioning of captioning services on all broadcast programs aligning thus with the National Disability Strategy 2010-2020, which calls for all broadcast programs to be fully captioned".
This change doesn't have any legal affect - that is, it won't force the Government to do what it asks for. However, it does have political influence in that it represents the will of the Senate.
What does it mean to read the bills "a second time"?
There are several stages that a bill must pass through before becoming law. When the Senate is asked to read a bill for the "second time", it means that they are being asked whether they agree with the main idea of the bill. If this vote is successful, they'll then go on to discuss it in greater detail.
What do the bills do?
The two bills are the:
- Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017; and the
- Commercial Broadcasting (Tax) Bill 2017.
Most significantly, the bills were introduced to get rid of certain media ownership, control and diversity laws, like the ‘75% audience reach rule’, which stops commercial television broadcasting licensees from controlling licences if the combined licence area has a population over 75% of Australia' population. It would also get rid of the ‘2 out of 3 cross-media control rule’, which stops a company from having control over more than two out of three regulated media platforms in any one commercial radio licence area.
Read more in the bills digest.
Votes Passed by a small majority
Nobody rebelled against their party.
| Party | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| Cory Bernardi SA Australian Conservatives | No | |
| Australian Greens (100% turnout) | 7 Yes – 0 No | |
| Richard Di Natale Victoria | Yes | |
| Sarah Hanson-Young SA | Yes | |
| Nick McKim Tasmania | Yes | |
| Lee Rhiannon NSW | Yes | |
| Janet Rice Victoria | Yes | |
| Rachel Siewert WA | Yes | |
| Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania | Yes | |
| Australian Labor Party (84% turnout) | 21 Yes – 0 No | |
| Catryna Bilyk Tasmania | Yes | |
| Carol Brown Tasmania | Yes | |
| Kim Carr Victoria | Yes | |
| Anthony Chisholm Queensland | Yes | |
| Jacinta Collins Victoria | Yes | |
| Patrick Dodson WA | Yes | |
| Don Farrell SA | Yes | |
| Alex Gallacher SA | Yes | |
| Katy Gallagher ACT | Yes | |
| Chris Ketter Queensland | Yes | |
| Kimberley Kitching Victoria | Yes | |
| Jenny McAllister NSW | Yes | |
| Malarndirri McCarthy NT | Yes | |
| Claire Moore Queensland | Yes | |
| Deborah O'Neill NSW | Yes | |
| Helen Polley Tasmania | Yes | |
| Louise Pratt WA | Yes | |
| Lisa Singh Tasmania | Yes | |
| Glenn Sterle WA | Yes | |
| Anne Urquhart Tasmania | Yes | |
| Penny Wong SA | Yes | |
| Doug Cameron NSW | Absent | |
| Sam Dastyari NSW | Absent | |
| Gavin Marshall Victoria | Absent | |
| Murray Watt Queensland | Absent | |
| Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party | Absent | |
| Derryn Hinch Victoria Derryn Hinch's Justice Party | Yes | |
| Sue Lines WA Deputy President | Yes | |
| Lucy Gichuhi SA Independent | Yes | |
| Jacqui Lambie Tasmania Independent | Yes | |
| David Leyonhjelm NSW Liberal Democratic Party | No | |
| Liberal National Party (50% turnout) | 0 Yes – 1 No | |
| James McGrath Queensland | No | |
| Matthew Canavan Queensland | Absent | |
| Liberal Party (86% turnout) | 0 Yes – 18 No | |
| Eric Abetz Tasmania | No | |
| Simon Birmingham SA | No | |
| Slade Brockman 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 | |
| James Paterson Victoria | No | |
| Marise Payne NSW | No | |
| Linda Reynolds WA | No | |
| Anne Ruston SA | No | |
| Zed Seselja ACT | No | |
| Arthur Sinodinos NSW | No | |
| Dean Smith WA | No | |
| George Brandis Queensland | Absent | |
| Mathias Cormann WA | Absent | |
| Scott Ryan 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 Team (100% turnout) | 3 Yes – 0 No | |
| Stirling Griff SA | Yes | |
| Skye Kakoschke-Moore SA | Yes | |
| Nick Xenophon SA | Yes | |
| Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party (75% turnout) | 0 Yes – 3 No | |
| Brian Burston NSW | No | |
| Pauline Hanson Queensland | No | |
| Malcolm Roberts Queensland | No | |
| Peter Georgiou WA | Absent | |
| Stephen Parry Tasmania President | No | |
| Totals (86% turnout) | 35 Yes – 29 No |
Turnout is the percentage of members eligible to vote that did vote.