Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree to the bill, as amended. This vote ends the 'in committee' stage of debate and means that the Senate can now decide on whether they wish to pass the bill in its amended form.

What does this bill do?

According to the bills digest, the bill includes two schedules. The first is not controversial. It will "allow meetings to be held virtually, to allow documents relating to meetings to be provided and signed electronically and for minutes to be kept electronically" (see the bills digest for more information).

Schedule 2 is very controversial, because it effectively waters down current continuous disclosure provisions, as well as misleading and deceptive conduct provisions, by making it harder to enforce civil penalties against people who allegedly breach these provisions.

According to the bills digest, Schedule 2 will:

  • permanently add a fault element to continuous disclosure civil penalty provisions, so that a person will only be eligible for a civil penalty where they have acted with knowledge, recklessness or negligence in failing to update the market with price sensitive information
  • impose the same fault standard for misleading and deceptive conduct that relates to alleged failure to provide an update with price sensitive information to the market
  • retain the existing standard for administrative penalties, so ASIC can continue to issue infringement notices without proving knowledge, recklessness or negligence. The existing standard is also retained for ASIC’s other non-pecuniary enforcement tools, such as requiring the disclosure of information to the market by obtaining a court order.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Sarah Hanson-Young SA No
Nick McKim Tasmania No
Rachel Siewert WA No
Larissa Waters Queensland No
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania No
Mehreen Faruqi NSW Absent
Janet Rice Victoria Absent
Jordon Steele-John WA Absent
Lidia Thorpe Victoria Absent
Carol Brown Tasmania No
Kim Carr Victoria No
Anthony Chisholm Queensland No
Don Farrell SA No
Katy Gallagher ACT No
Deborah O'Neill NSW No
Louise Pratt WA No
Anne Urquhart Tasmania No
Murray Watt Queensland No
Tim Ayres NSW Absent
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania Absent
Raff Ciccone Victoria Absent
Patrick Dodson WA Absent
Alex Gallacher SA Absent
Nita Green Queensland Absent
Kristina Keneally NSW Absent
Kimberley Kitching Victoria Absent
Jenny McAllister NSW Absent
Malarndirri McCarthy NT Absent
Helen Polley Tasmania Absent
Tony Sheldon NSW Absent
Marielle Smith SA Absent
Glenn Sterle WA Absent
Jess Walsh Victoria Absent
Penny Wong SA Absent
Stirling Griff SA Centre Alliance Absent
Sam McMahon NT Country Liberal Party Absent
Sue Lines WA Deputy President No
Rex Patrick SA Independent No
Jacqui Lambie Tasmania Jacqui Lambie Network No
Matthew Canavan Queensland Yes
James McGrath Queensland Absent
Wendy Askew Tasmania Yes
Slade Brockman WA Yes
Michaelia Cash WA Yes
Jonathon Duniam Tasmania Yes
Hollie Hughes NSW Yes
Jane Hume Victoria Yes
James Paterson Victoria Yes
Marise Payne NSW Yes
Gerard Rennick Queensland Yes
Linda Reynolds WA Yes
Anne Ruston SA Yes
Paul Scarr Queensland Yes
Zed Seselja ACT Yes
Ben Small WA Yes
Dean Smith WA Yes
Amanda Stoker Queensland Yes
Eric Abetz Tasmania Absent
Alex Antic SA Absent
Simon Birmingham SA Absent
Andrew Bragg NSW Absent
Claire Chandler Tasmania Absent
Richard Colbeck Tasmania Absent
David Fawcett SA Absent
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW Absent
Sarah Henderson Victoria Absent
Andrew McLachlan SA Absent
Jim Molan NSW Absent
Matt O'Sullivan WA Absent
David Van Victoria Absent
Bridget McKenzie Victoria Yes
Perin Davey NSW Absent
Susan McDonald Queensland Absent
Malcolm Roberts Queensland Yes
Pauline Hanson Queensland Absent
Scott Ryan Victoria President Absent
Totals (47% turnout) 19 Yes – 17 No