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Kim Carr voted moderately against strengthening gun control laws

How Kim Carr voted compared to someone who believes that the federal government should maintain and strengthen gun control laws and make sure they're the same around Australia

Division Kim Carr Supporters vote Division outcome

28th Nov 2018, 4:37 PM – Senate Motions - National Firearms Agreement - Resist moves to weaken

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The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi (NSW), which means it passed. Motions like these don't make any legal changes on their own but as they represent the will of the Senate, they can be politically influential.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that, according to reports:

(i) there have been more than 50 breaches of the National Firearm Agreement across Australian states and territories since it was implemented in 1996,

(ii) corporate members of the gun lobby group, the Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia (SIFA), include suppliers and manufacturers of weapons, such as Nioa, Raytrade, Outdoor Sporting Agencies, Winchester and Baretta, who stand to benefit from relaxed gun laws, and

(iii) SIFA is becoming increasingly active in election campaigns with a clear strategy to weaken gun laws – the gun lobby group contributed $220,000 to a political campaign in Queensland last year, and is contributing at least $165,000 to a political campaign in Victoria this year; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to:

(i) show leadership so that the National Firearm Agreement is complied with in all Australian states and territories, and

(ii) resist moves to weaken Australia's gun control laws.

 absent Yes Passed by a small majority

21st Nov 2016, 8:34 PM – Senate Regulations and Determinations - Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment (Shotguns and Shotgun Magazines) Regulation 2016 - Disallowance

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The majority voted against disallowing the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment (Shotguns and Shotgun Magazines) Regulation 2016, which "reimposes an import ban on the Adler seven-shot lever-action shotgun" (read Liberal Democratic Senator David Leyonhjelm full explanation).

Senators voting in favour of this motion support importing this shotgun. Senators voting against the motion, want to keep the import ban.

Senator Leyonhjelm introduced this motion because he believes Australians should be able to import this type of shotgun.

Read more about his reasons - and the reasons why the majority of senators voted against his motion - over on OpenAustralia.

 absent No (strong) Not passed by a large majority

15th Sep 2016, 12:40 PM – Senate Motions - Gun Control - Strengthen laws

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The majority voted against a motion to further strengthen gun control laws, which means it was unsuccessful.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) a video in circulation violently threatens a high-profile gun control advocate,

(ii) the individuals in the video have previously been referred to the New South Wales Police for posting violent videos aimed at racial and religious minorities and the Greens, and

(iii) former Prime Minister John Howard performed a courageous act in 1996 by pursuing national gun law reform; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to:

(i) maintain and strengthen the National Firearms Agreement,

(ii) commit to a ban on the importation and sale of rapid-fire shot guns, and

(iii) show leadership on firearms similar to that shown by Mr Howard, and work with state governments to have firearms laws amended to provide for the immediate cancellation of a firearms licence and surrender of all weapons when a shooter has displayed threatening, intimidating or offensive behaviour associated with their use of firearms.

 No Yes (strong) Not passed by a modest majority

21st Jun 2012, 12:14 PM – Senate Motions - Gun Control - Stregthen uniformity

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The majority voted against a motion, which means it was unsuccessful.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) uniform gun laws were introduced across all states and territories following the ground-breaking work undertaken by the former Prime Minister, Mr Howard, in the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre,

(ii) the New South Wales Government has sponsored a two-day ‘Shot Expo’ that promotes guns, knives and pistols, in conjunction with firearm manufacturers, including Beretta, a weapons supplier to the former Gaddafi regime, and

(iii) the New South Wales Government has given its support to a longstanding Shooter and Fishers Party plan to allow recreational hunting with firearms in designated New South Wales national parks;

(b) condemns the New South Wales Government’s plans to allow recreational hunting with firearms in its national parks; and

(c) calls on:

(i) the Federal Government to support the adoption of a global arms trade treaty at the United Nations, and

(ii) the Attorney-General (Ms Roxon) to take the steps required to strengthen uniformity of Australian gun laws.

 absent Yes (strong) Not passed by a modest 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 2 50 100
Less important votes (10 points)      
MP voted with policy 0 0 0
MP voted against policy 0 0 0
Less important absentees (2 points)      
MP absent* 1 1 2
Total: 51 152

*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 = 51 / 152 = 34%.

And then