Photo of Andrew Southcott

Andrew Southcott voted very strongly for making more water from Murray-Darling Basin available to use

How Andrew Southcott voted compared to someone who believes that the federal government should increase water allocations from the Murray-Darling Basin for farmers and other users

Division Andrew Southcott Supporters vote Division outcome

28th Nov 2012, 8:50 PM – Representatives Water Amendment (Water for the Environment Special Account) Bill 2012 - Consideration in Detail - Opposition amendment

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The majority voted against an opposition amendment moved by Liberal MP Greg Hunt.

According to MP Hunt, the amendments guarantee: "no general buybacks to achieve the 450 gigalitres; neutral or beneficial socioeconomic outcomes; a 1,500-gigalitre buyback cap; and adequate reporting".(You can read MP Hunt's entire discussion of the amendment here. )

Background to the bill

The bill(A copy of the bill, its explanatory memoranda and amendments are available here. ) was introduced to establish an Environment Special Account to fund projects that protect and restore environmental assets of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) and protect water dependent biodiversity of the MDB.(Read more about the bill in this bills digest (696 KB).) The projects will include those that increase the available environmental water in the MDB by 450 Gigalitres.

References

 Yes Yes Not passed by a small majority

28th Nov 2012, 8:41 PM – Representatives Water Amendment (Water for the Environment Special Account) Bill 2012 - Consideration in Detail - 450 Gigalitres

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The majority voted in favour of government amendments moved by Labor MP Tony Burke, the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.

The amendments remove the reference to "up to 450 gigalitres" in the bill and change it to "450 gigalitres". MP Burke explains that the amendments also "put in place a process which gives a clear line of sight to the parliament and to the public as to whether or not enough money has been set aside to achieve the 450 gigalitres". It would then be for the government to decide whether or not to put aside additional money.(Read more of MP Burke's explanation of the amendments and the subsequent debate here. )

Background to the bill

The bill(A copy of the bill, its explanatory memoranda and amendments are available here. ) was introduced to establish an Environment Special Account to fund projects that protect and restore environmental assets of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) and protect water dependent biodiversity of the MDB.(Read more about the bill in this bills digest (696 KB).) The projects will include those that increase the available environmental water in the MDB by 450 Gigalitres.

References

 No No Passed by a small majority

How "voted very strongly for" is worked out

The MP's votes count towards a weighted average where the most important votes get 50 points, less important votes get 10 points, and less important votes for which the MP was absent get 2 points. In important votes the MP gets awarded the full 50 points for voting the same as the policy, 0 points for voting against the policy, and 25 points for not voting. In less important votes, the MP gets 10 points for voting with the policy, 0 points for voting against, and 1 (out of 2) if absent.

Then, the number gets converted to a simple english language phrase based on the range of values it's within.

No of votes Points Out of
Most important votes (50 points)      
MP voted with policy 0 0 0
MP voted against policy 0 0 0
MP absent 0 0 0
Less important votes (10 points)      
MP voted with policy 2 20 20
MP voted against policy 0 0 0
Less important absentees (2 points)      
MP absent* 0 0 0
Total: 20 20

*Pressure of other work means MPs or Senators are not always available to vote – it does not always indicate they have abstained. Therefore, being absent on a less important vote makes a disproportionatly small difference.

Agreement score = MP's points / total points = 20 / 20 = 100%.

And then