Summary

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The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion "that the bill be read for a second time" (which is parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). This mean that the amendment failed.

This amendment was introduced by Queensland Senator Larissa Waters (Greens) and, if it had been successful, its text would have been added to the usual second reading motion as a note. In other words, it didn't seek to change the actual text of the bills.

Senator Waters explained the rationale behind her amendment in her contribution to the debate.

Amendment text

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that the Government's proposed eligibility rules for the JobKeeper payment exclude millions of workers; and

(b) calls on the Government to extend access to the JobKeeper payment to everyone who needs it, including:

(i) over 1 million casual workers who have worked for their current employer for less than 12 months,

(ii) everyone who relies on insecure, short-term, contract and gig-economy work,

(iii) people on temporary visas, including work, skilled, protection, student, and non-protected special category visas, many of whom are also ineligible for Medicare,

(iv) universities and their highly insecure and casualised workforces who are crucial to our recovery from this crisis and deserve full access to JobKeeper, and

(v) charities that largely rely on government grants and specific purpose funding and will not meet the 15 per cent threshold as a result".

Votes Not passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (33% turnout) 3 Yes 0 No
Rachel Siewert WA Yes
Larissa Waters Queensland Yes
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania Yes
Richard Di Natale Victoria Absent
Mehreen Faruqi NSW Absent
Sarah Hanson-Young SA Absent
Nick McKim Tasmania Absent
Janet Rice Victoria Absent
Jordon Steele-John WA Absent
Australian Labor Party (32% turnout) 8 Yes 0 No
Raff Ciccone Victoria Yes
Katy Gallagher ACT Yes
Kristina Keneally NSW Yes
Kimberley Kitching Victoria Yes
Tony Sheldon NSW Yes
Anne Urquhart Tasmania Yes
Jess Walsh Victoria Yes
Penny Wong SA Yes
Tim Ayres NSW Absent
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania Absent
Carol Brown Tasmania Absent
Kim Carr Victoria Absent
Anthony Chisholm Queensland Absent
Patrick Dodson WA Absent
Don Farrell SA Absent
Alex Gallacher SA Absent
Nita Green Queensland Absent
Jenny McAllister NSW Absent
Malarndirri McCarthy NT Absent
Deborah O'Neill NSW Absent
Helen Polley Tasmania Absent
Louise Pratt WA Absent
Marielle Smith SA Absent
Glenn Sterle WA Absent
Murray Watt Queensland Absent
Centre Alliance (50% turnout) 1 Yes 0 No
Rex Patrick SA Yes
Stirling Griff SA Absent
Sam McMahon NT Country Liberal Party Absent
Sue Lines WA Deputy President Yes
Jacqui Lambie Tasmania Jacqui Lambie Network Absent
Liberal National Party (50% turnout) 0 Yes 1 No
James McGrath Queensland No
Matthew Canavan Queensland Absent
Liberal Party (55% turnout) 0 Yes 16 No
Simon Birmingham SA No
Slade Brockman WA No
Michaelia Cash WA No
Richard Colbeck Tasmania No
Mathias Cormann WA No
Jonathon Duniam Tasmania No
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW No
Jane Hume Victoria No
Jim Molan NSW No
James Paterson Victoria No
Marise Payne NSW No
Linda Reynolds WA No
Anne Ruston SA No
Paul Scarr Queensland No
Zed Seselja ACT No
Dean Smith WA No
Eric Abetz Tasmania Absent
Alex Antic SA Absent
Wendy Askew Tasmania Absent
Andrew Bragg NSW Absent
Claire Chandler Tasmania Absent
David Fawcett SA Absent
Sarah Henderson Victoria Absent
Hollie Hughes NSW Absent
Andrew McLachlan SA Absent
Matt O'Sullivan WA Absent
Gerard Rennick Queensland Absent
Amanda Stoker Queensland Absent
David Van Victoria Absent
National Party (67% turnout) 0 Yes 2 No
Perin Davey NSW No
Bridget McKenzie Victoria No
Susan McDonald Queensland Absent
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party (50% turnout) 0 Yes 1 No
Malcolm Roberts Queensland No
Pauline Hanson Queensland Absent
Scott Ryan Victoria President No
Totals (45% turnout) 13 Yes – 21 No