Summary

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The majority voted in favour of an amendment introduced by SA Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (Greens), which means it was successful.

The amendment changes the second motion text - which is normally "That these bills be now read a second time" - by adding:

", but reaffirms that the Senate is a friend of the ABC, notes that the agreement to support the bill involves a non-statutory review which threatens iView, SBS on Demand and online news content, and is of the opinion that the bill should not proceed if the review is to occur".

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:

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 No
Sue Lines WA Deputy President Yes
Jacqui Lambie Tasmania Independent Yes
Lucy Gichuhi SA Independent No
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) 33 Yes – 31 No