Posted 22/06/2022 by Lisa Richards
The majority of decisions by Members of the House of Representatives in the Australian parliament are usually made via an opaque but efficient voting process known as a vote on the voices.
A voice vote involves MPs who are present in the chamber calling out ‘aye’ or ‘no’ in response to a question put by the Speaker. The Speaker then declares if the question is agreed to or negatived based on the voices heard. If no MP in the chamber challenges this declaration, then the matter is passed or negatived on the voices without a record of who voted. If there is only one MP dissenting during a vote on the voices, their dissent may be recorded.
Individual MPs’ votes are recorded during a formal vote (division). Given the Government rarely loses a vote in the House of Representatives, the outcome of most votes in the Reps are often obvious without a division occurring. Why divisions are held on some decisions before the House, and not others, can be fairly arbitrary.
Divisions only occur when requested by more than one Member present in the Chamber. When a question is put before the House and a division is called for, the Speaker instructs the Clerk to ring the bells for four minutes ‘to alert Members who are not present and summon them to the Chamber’. Not all MPs attend the chamber to vote in every division that is held. Where an MP is absent from a vote, they will not appear in the record of the division. MPs may be absent from a vote for a variety of reasons, including because they are: on leave; paired (an arrangement between major parties); deliberately abstaining from a vote; or participating remotely (by video link). After the bells have stopped, and doors to the Chamber have been locked, Members present divide into two groups—those voting ‘aye’ and those voting ‘no’ to the question put—so that their vote and name may be recorded. However, if there were four or fewer Members on one side during a division, the Speaker declares the result immediately and only the names of Members in the minority are recorded.
Given Coalition and ALP MPs mostly vote along party lines, the voting records of the minor parties and independent MPs garners particular interest, including media attention. This was especially so during the 46th Parliament when the Coalition Government had a slim majority in the Reps and, at times, relied on crossbench support to pass legislation.
This FlagPost provides statistics on voting records during divisions of the House of Representatives crossbench during the 46th Parliament. Such statistics on divisions provide an incomplete record of MPs votes, given they do not include votes on the voices or occasions where a division was abandoned. This factor should be considered when interpreting divisions data.
Members of the House of Representatives voting records during 46th Parliament divisions
There were 819 divisions in the Reps during the 46th Parliament (from 2 July 2019 to 11 April 2022). The 334 divisions held in 2020 was the highest number of Reps divisions held in a calendar year since 1975.
Breakdown of divisions
The most common type of divisions were ‘closure of debate’ motions (42%), these include:
- 30% ‘closure of a Member speaking’ motions
- under Standing Order (SO) 80, a Member may move ‘That the Member be no longer heard’, which prevents the Member then speaking from continuing. Such a motion cannot be moved when a notice of motion is being given or the terms of a motion are being moved.
- 12% ‘closure of question’ motions
- under SO 81, a Member may move ‘That the question be now put’, which requires the question before the House to be put immediately and resolved without amendment or debate.
Motions on Bills accounted for 34% of divisions, these include:
- 24% on second reading (2R) and third reading motions (that a Bill be read a second/third time) and amendments to 2R motions
- 10% on substantive amendments to Bills (amendments to the content of a Bill)
Motions to suspend standing or sessional orders (SSO) accounted for 17% of divisions held. Under SO 47, a Member may move to suspend any standing or other order of the House. SSO motions are most commonly moved in order to: facilitate the progress of business through the Reps, extend or reduce time limits for speeches, enable a motion to be moved without notice or enable a particular item of business to be called on immediately (p. 336).
The remaining divisions were on a variety of procedural matters, motions other than SSO motions, and disallowance motions.
Crossbench
Crossbench members of the 46th Parliament were:
- Adam Bandt (Australian Greens), Member for Melbourne (Vic)
- Helen Haines (Independent), Member for Indi (Vic)
- Bob Katter (Katter’s Australian Party), Member for Kennedy (Qld)
- Craig Kelly (Liberal Party of Australia, Independent, and United Australia Party), Member for Hughes (NSW)
- Member of the crossbench since resigning from the Liberal Party on 23 February 2021
- Rebekha Sharkie (Centre Alliance), Member for Mayo (SA)
- Zali Steggall (Independent), Member for Warringah (NSW)
- Andrew Wilkie (Independent), Member for Clark (Tas)
Table 1 and Figure 1 show how often the crossbench voted with and against the Government and Opposition on all divisions held during the 46th Parliament—including on motions, legislation, closure of debate, etc.
Table 1: Crossbench votes during all 46th Parliament divisions (no.)
|
Voted with Gov |
Voted against Gov |
Voted with Opp |
Voted against Opp |
Voted with Gov and Opp |
Voted against Gov and Opp |
| Bandt |
2 |
662 |
643 |
21 |
1 |
20 |
| Haines |
242 |
557 |
542 |
257 |
3 |
18 |
| Katter |
135 |
99 |
97 |
137 |
6 |
8 |
| Kelly |
171 |
17 |
22 |
166 |
6 |
1 |
| Sharkie |
223 |
451 |
434 |
240 |
1 |
18 |
| Steggall |
236 |
508 |
489 |
255 |
1 |
20 |
| Wilkie |
22 |
550 |
531 |
41 |
1 |
20 |
- Craig Kelly’s voting record only includes the period of time when he was a crossbencher.
- For the purposes of this FlagPost, the 14 divisions where the Government vote was split, the side that the majority of Government MPs voted with has been counted. Likewise for the 1 division where the ALP vote was split.
Source: Parliamentary Library calculations based on House of Representatives’ divisions website and divisions profiles for Adam Bandt, Helen Haines, Bob Katter, Craig Kelly, Rebekha Sharkie, Zali Steggall, and Andrew Wilkie.
Figure 1: Crossbench votes during all 46th Parliament divisions (%)
- Voting percentages are based off the total amount of divisions attended.
- Craig Kelly’s voting record only includes the period of time when he was a crossbencher.
- For the purposes of this FlagPost, the 14 divisions where the Government vote was split, the side that the majority of Government MPs voted with has been counted. Likewise for the 1 division where the ALP vote was split.
Source: Parliamentary Library calculations based on House of Representatives’ divisions website and divisions profiles for Adam Bandt, Helen Haines, Bob Katter, Craig Kelly, Rebekha Sharkie, Zali Steggall, and Andrew Wilkie.
Table 2 provides the number and portion of divisions attended by crossbench MPs. There were 243 divisions held while Craig Kelly was a crossbencher (his attendance percentages are calculated on this total), and 819 divisions held in total.
Table 2: Divisions attended during the 46th Parliament
| MP |
Divisions attended (no.) |
Divisions absent (no.) |
Divisions attended (%) |
Divisions absent (%) |
| Bandt |
664 |
155 |
81.1% |
18.9% |
| Haines |
799 |
20 |
97.6% |
2.4% |
| Katter |
234 |
585 |
28.6% |
71.4% |
| Kelly |
188 |
55 |
77.4% |
22.6% |
| Sharkie |
674 |
145 |
82.3% |
17.7% |
| Steggall |
744 |
75 |
90.8% |
9.2% |
| Wilkie |
572 |
247 |
69.8% |
30.2% |
- Craig Kelly’s attendance in divisions only includes the period of time when he was a crossbencher.
Source: Parliamentary Library calculations based on House of Representatives’ divisions profiles for Adam Bandt, Helen Haines, Bob Katter, Craig Kelly, Rebekha Sharkie, Zali Steggall, and Andrew Wilkie.
Government (Coalition) and Opposition (ALP)
The Government and Opposition voted against each other 97.4% of the time (798 divisions), and with each other during 2.6% of divisions (21 divisions).
Split votes/floor crossings
The Government vote was split during 14 divisions (at least one Government MP ‘crossed the floor’ to vote against the Government’s position).
The Opposition’s vote was split during 1 division (the Mitochondrial Donation Law Reform (Maeve's Law) Bill 2021, which was a free vote).
This is perhaps unsurprising given that, unlike the Liberal Party and the Nationals, the ALP formally bind their members to support party positions (except where a free vote is designated).
Divisions data
The Excel spreadsheet below contains MPs’ voting records during 46th Parliament divisions. This data has been extracted from each MPs’ profile from the APH website, the accuracy of which cannot be guaranteed by the Parliamentary Library.