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Bill Shorten voted very strongly against live animal export

How Bill Shorten voted compared to someone who believes that the federal government should allow live animal export and place minimal restrictions on it

Division Bill Shorten Supporters vote Division outcome

16th Aug 2012, 9:59 AM – Representatives Private Members' Business - Live Animal Exports - Condemn Minister's decision

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The majority voted against a motion introduced by Liberal MP Warren Entsch,(Read Mr Entsch's explanation of his motion and the associated debate here. ) which means it was rejected. This motion was:

That this House:

(1) notes the profound financial impact on graziers and associated businesses by the Government's decision to ban live cattle exports to Indonesia on 7 June 2011;(Learn more about the ban on live animal exports to Indonesia on Lateline. )

(2) acknowledges that due to Government maladministration:

(a) the criteria outline in the Business Assistance Payments program offered to affected graziers and businesses contained ambiguous wording and was confusing for applicants;(Read more about this assistance program here.)

(b) Centrelink staff who advised on applications for the Business Assistance Payments program offered inaccurate advice to eligible applicants; and

(c) applicants who met the criteria missed the deadline for the program because they were misinformed about their eligibility; and

(3) condemns the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for:

(a) refusing to extend the Business Assistance Payments program to assist affected farmers and businesses who experienced financial losses as a direct result of the live export ban; and

(b) his poor handling of the issue, which has led to financial losses in the cattle industry.

References

 No Yes Not passed by a small majority

How "voted very strongly against" 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 0 0 0
MP voted against policy 1 0 10
Less important absentees (2 points)      
MP absent* 0 0 0
Total: 0 10

*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 = 0 / 10 = 0.0%.

And then