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Lin Thorp voted very strongly against protecting whistleblowers

How Lin Thorp voted compared to someone who believes that the federal government should introduce legislation to protect people who disclose information for the benefit of the public interest

Division Lin Thorp Supporters vote Division outcome

19th Mar 2013, 3:47 PM – Senate Motions - Public Interest Disclosure - Protect whistle blowers

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The majority voted against a motion introduced by Greens Senator Scott Ludlam in relation to protection for whistle blowers.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) the resolution of the Senate of 22 November 2012, That the Government was to fulfil its 2007 election commitment and introduce a public interest disclosure bill into the Parliament in the first sitting week of 2013, and

(ii) that this resolution has not been complied with and, to date, there is still no listing of the public interest disclosure bill; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) provide an explanation as to whether it will deliver on its 2007 election commitment, and

(ii) introduce legislation within the current Parliament that would comprehensively protect whistle-blowers across the entire government sector.

 No Yes Not passed by a modest 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