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Belinda Neal voted very strongly for decreasing the private health insurance rebate

How Belinda Neal voted compared to someone who believes that the federal government should decrease the private health insurance rebate that eligible taxpayers are entitled to

Division Belinda Neal Supporters vote Division outcome

2nd Jun 2009, 9:31 PM – Representatives Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009 - Third Reading - Read a third time

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill for a third time.(Read more about the stages that a bill needs to pass through before becoming law here. ) This means that the majority agree with the bill and that it is now passed in the House of Representatives. It will now be sent to the Senate for their consideration.

Background to the bill

The Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009 was introduced as part of a package of three bills along with the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2009 and the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge – Fringe Benefits) Bill 2009. Together, the bills create three private health insurance tiers in order to:

  • reduce the amount of private health insurance rebate eligible taxpayers with complying private health insurance are entitled to when their income for surcharge purposes is above the relevant Medicare levy surcharge threshold;(Read more about the proposed reduction of the rebate in the bills digest (419 KB) for the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009.

)

  • increase the rate of Medicare levy surcharge for certain taxpayers who do not have complying health insurance and whose income for surcharge purposes is above the relevant Medicare levy surcharge threshold.(Read more about the proposed increase in the rate of Medicare levy surcharge the bills digest (339 KB) for Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2009 and the bills digest (346 KB) for the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge - Fringe Benefits) Bill 2009.)
 Yes Yes (strong) Passed by a small majority

2nd Jun 2009, 9:28 PM – Representatives Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009 - Second Reading - Read a second time

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill for a second time.(Read more about the stages that a bill needs to pass through before becoming law here. ) This means that the majority agree with the main idea of the bill and that the House can now consider it in detail.

Background to the bill

The Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009 was introduced as part of a package of three bills along with the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2009 and the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge – Fringe Benefits) Bill 2009. Together, the bills create three private health insurance tiers in order to:

  • reduce the amount of private health insurance rebate eligible taxpayers with complying private health insurance are entitled to when their income for surcharge purposes is above the relevant Medicare levy surcharge threshold;(Read more about the proposed reduction of the rebate in the bills digest (419 KB) for the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009.

)

  • increase the rate of Medicare levy surcharge for certain taxpayers who do not have complying health insurance and whose income for surcharge purposes is above the relevant Medicare levy surcharge threshold.(Read more about the proposed increase in the rate of Medicare levy surcharge the bills digest (339 KB) for Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2009 and the bills digest (346 KB) for the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge - Fringe Benefits) Bill 2009.)
 Yes Yes (strong) Passed by a small majority

2nd Jun 2009, 9:23 PM – Representatives Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009 - Second Reading - Keep the original motion unchanged

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The majority voted in favour of a motion "That the words proposed to be omitted (Mr Dutton’s amendment) stand part of the question." This means that the words that Liberal MP Peter Dutton wanted to omit will remain unchanged.

Mr Dutton's amendment related to the original amendment "That this bill be now read a second time"(Read more about the stages that a bill needs to pass through before becoming law here. ) and was:

"That all words after “That” be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:“the House declines to give the Bill a second reading, and calls on the Government to offset the revenue that would have resulted from the enactment of this Bill and the associated bills, the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2009 and Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge – Fringe Benefits) Bill 2009, by increasing the excise on tobacco”."

Background to the bill

The Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009 was introduced as part of a package of three bills along with the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2009 and the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge - Fringe Benefits) Bill 2009. Together, the bills create three private health insurance tiers in order to:

  • reduce the amount of private health insurance rebate eligible taxpayers with complying private health insurance are entitled to when their income for surcharge purposes is above the relevant Medicare levy surcharge threshold;(Read more about the proposed reduction of the rebate in the bills digest (419 KB) for the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009.

)

  • increase the rate of Medicare levy surcharge for certain taxpayers who do not have complying health insurance and whose income for surcharge purposes is above the relevant Medicare levy surcharge threshold.(Read more about the proposed increase in the rate of Medicare levy surcharge the bills digest (339 KB) for Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2009 and the bills digest (346 KB) for the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge - Fringe Benefits) Bill 2009.)
 Yes Yes 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 2 100 100
MP voted against policy 0 0 0
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: 110 110

*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 = 110 / 110 = 100%.

And then