Photo of David Fawcett

David Fawcett voted strongly against increasing investment in renewable energy

How David Fawcett voted compared to someone who believes that the federal government should increase investment in renewable energy technologies

Division David Fawcett Supporters vote Division outcome

20th Jun 2006, 6:11 PM – Representatives Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment Bill 2006 - Second Reading - Stand as part of the question

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The majority voted in favour of a motion "That the words proposed to be omitted ... stand part of the question". This is a procedural motion that was put after Labor MP Anthony Albanese introduced a motion to omit and replace the words following "That".

Because the majority voted 'aye' in favour of this procedural motion, the original motion that Mr Albanese wanted to amend remains in its original form. The original motion was: "That this bill be now read a second time".(Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through here. )

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced to:

  • enhance market transparency and business certainty;
  • increase opportunities for bioenergy and solar technologies;
  • encourage innovation through recognising emerging renewable electricity generation technologies; and
  • make administrative amendments in relation to the operation of the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target scheme.(Read more about the bill in the bills digest (200 KB).)

References

 Yes Yes Passed by a small majority

How "voted 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 2 0 100
MP absent 0 0 0
Less important votes (10 points)      
MP voted with policy 2 20 20
MP voted against policy 21 0 210
Less important absentees (2 points)      
MP absent* 7 7 14
Total: 27 344

*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 = 27 / 344 = 7.8%.

And then