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Tim Hammond voted moderately against outsourcing government services

How Tim Hammond voted compared to someone who believes that the federal government should give the private sector control over running and managing its services (such as public welfare and health services)

Division Tim Hammond Supporters vote Division outcome

11th Oct 2016, 6:04 PM – Representatives National Cancer Screening Register Bill 2016 and another - Consideration in Detail - Privatisation

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The majority voted against amendments introduced by Labor MP Catherine King, which means they were unsuccessful.

What are these amendments all about?

MP King explained the reasons for the amendments:

These are very important amendments. They go to the heart of Labor's concerns with the National Cancer Screening Register Bill 2016. This is a very serious debate we are having here in this chamber this evening. This is a debate about not only who will hold some of the most sensitive health information but the future possibilities of the private, for-profit sector in the health space ...

... The amendments I have moved very strongly say that we do not believe that we should have a for-profit company running this register. I want to make it very clear that we will be moving these amendments in the Senate as well. These are amendments that I believe the House should support because if we do not it is the thin end of the wedge when it comes to this government privatising our Medicare system.

Learn more about the bills

The two bills under discussion are the:

Together, they create a National Cancer Screening Register. Read more about them in the bills digest.

Motion text

(1) Clause 26, page 22 (line 16), omit "The Minister", substitute "(1) The Minister".

(2) Clause 26, page 22 (lines 16 and 17), omit "a person", substitute "a permitted entity".

(3) Clause 26, page 22 (line 20), at the end of the clause, add:

(3) In this section:

permitted entity means:

(a) a Department of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or

(b) a body (whether incorporated or unincorporated) established for a public purpose by a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or

(c) a person in the service or employment of a Department mentioned in paragraph (a) or a body mentioned in paragraph (b); or

(d) a person who holds or performs the duties of an office or position established by or under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or

(e) an entity (whether incorporated or unincorporated) established for a charitable purpose.

(4) This section has no effect to the extent (if any) to which its operation would result in the acquisition of property (within the meaning of paragraph 51(xxxi) of the Constitution) otherwise than on just terms (within the meaning of that paragraph).

 Yes No (strong) Not passed by a small majority

11th Oct 2016, 5:46 PM – Representatives National Cancer Screening Register Bill 2016 and another - Second Reading - Sensitive information

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The majority voted against a motion that "condemns the Government for outsourcing Australians' most sensitive health information", so it was unsuccessful.

Motion text

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House condemns the Government for outsourcing Australians' most sensitive health information - including Medicare data - to Telstra, and before passing the necessary legislation."

What are the bills?

The two bills under discussion are the:

Read more about them in the bills digest.

 Yes Yes Not passed by a small majority

How "voted moderately 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 1 0 50
MP absent 0 0 0
Less important votes (10 points)      
MP voted with policy 1 10 10
MP voted against policy 0 0 0
Less important absentees (2 points)      
MP absent* 0 0 0
Total: 10 60

*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 = 10 / 60 = 17%.

And then