Summary

Edit

The majority voted in favour of the main idea of the bills. In parliamentary jargon, they voted in favour of reading the bills for a second time.

The Senate can now discuss the bills in more detail.

What is the main idea of the bills?

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 Yes
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 0 Yes 7 No
Richard Di Natale Victoria No
Sarah Hanson-Young SA No
Nick McKim Tasmania No
Lee Rhiannon NSW No
Janet Rice Victoria No
Rachel Siewert WA No
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania No
Australian Labor Party (84% turnout) 0 Yes 21 No
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania No
Carol Brown Tasmania No
Kim Carr Victoria No
Anthony Chisholm Queensland No
Jacinta Collins Victoria No
Patrick Dodson WA No
Don Farrell SA No
Alex Gallacher SA No
Katy Gallagher ACT No
Chris Ketter Queensland No
Kimberley Kitching Victoria 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
Lisa Singh Tasmania No
Glenn Sterle WA No
Anne Urquhart Tasmania No
Penny Wong SA No
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 No
Lucy Gichuhi SA Independent Yes
Jacqui Lambie Tasmania Independent No
David Leyonhjelm NSW Liberal Democratic Party Yes
Liberal National Party (50% turnout) 1 Yes 0 No
James McGrath Queensland Yes
Matthew Canavan Queensland Absent
Liberal Party (86% turnout) 18 Yes 0 No
Eric Abetz Tasmania Yes
Simon Birmingham SA Yes
Slade Brockman WA Yes
David Bushby Tasmania Yes
Michaelia Cash WA Yes
Jonathon Duniam Tasmania Yes
David Fawcett SA Yes
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW Yes
Mitch Fifield Victoria Yes
Jane Hume Victoria Yes
Ian Macdonald Queensland Yes
James Paterson Victoria Yes
Marise Payne NSW Yes
Linda Reynolds WA Yes
Anne Ruston SA Yes
Zed Seselja ACT Yes
Arthur Sinodinos NSW Yes
Dean Smith WA Yes
George Brandis Queensland Absent
Mathias Cormann WA Absent
Scott Ryan Victoria 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 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) 3 Yes 0 No
Brian Burston NSW Yes
Pauline Hanson Queensland Yes
Malcolm Roberts Queensland Yes
Peter Georgiou WA Absent
Stephen Parry Tasmania President Yes
Totals (86% turnout) 34 Yes – 30 No