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Mehmet Tillem voted very strongly for increasing Aboriginal land rights

How Mehmet Tillem voted compared to someone who believes that the federal government should increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights by, for example, increasing their legal recognition and protection

Division Mehmet Tillem Supporters vote Division outcome

20th Mar 2014, 12:20 PM – Senate Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Delegation) Regulation 2013 - Regulations and Determinations - Disallow the Regulation

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The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Labor Senator Claire Moore. The motion was:

"That the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Delegation) Regulation 2013, as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2013 No. 272 and made under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, be disallowed [F2013L02122]."

This type of motion is a motion to disallow. Because the majority voted in favour of this motion, it was successful and the Regulation was disallowed.

Senator Moore explained that she brought this motion because she believes that when developing regulations related to Aboriginal land, two key points are always required:

  • effective consultation and
  • transparency, accountability and consistency in any kind of action that is taken.

Read Senator Moore's full explanation and the related debate and further debate, including Senator Moore's summing up speech.

 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 0 0 0
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: 10 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 = 10 / 10 = 100%.

And then