Summary

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The majority agreed with the bill's main idea, which means that they can now discuss it in more detail. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill for a second time.

What is the bill's main idea?

The bill was introduced to implement the Coalition Government's new school funding proposal. Unfortunately, at the time of this vote there was still no bills digest to explain exactly what the new proposal is, but there is a very helpful and easy to understand explanation on The Conversation by Associate Professor Misty Adoniou. As a brief summary:

  • the proposal offers more money for schools, but less than the previous Labor Government had offered;
  • every student will attract the same amount of funding but the amount of funding that the federal government will provide (as opposed to the state governments) is not equal between government and non-government schools (that is, the federal government will provide 80% of the funding for non-government schools but only 20% for government schools, with the states paying the difference);
  • those in need will get more funding, but the Government still doesn't have any proposal for how this will work or even how many students will be eligible for this, which leaves a big question mark over the whole proposal.

How are schools currently funded?

ABC News has created a handily jargon-free summary of how Australian schools are funded.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Cory Bernardi SA Australian Conservatives No
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 0 Yes 9 No
Richard Di Natale Victoria No
Sarah Hanson-Young SA No
Scott Ludlam WA No
Nick McKim Tasmania No
Lee Rhiannon NSW No
Janet Rice Victoria No
Rachel Siewert WA No
Larissa Waters Queensland No
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania No
Australian Labor Party (76% turnout) 0 Yes 19 No
Carol Brown Tasmania No
Doug Cameron NSW No
Jacinta Collins Victoria No
Sam Dastyari NSW No
Patrick Dodson WA No
Don Farrell SA No
Alex Gallacher SA No
Katy Gallagher ACT No
Kimberley Kitching Victoria No
Gavin Marshall Victoria No
Jenny McAllister NSW No
Malarndirri McCarthy NT No
Claire Moore Queensland No
Deborah O'Neill NSW No
Lisa Singh Tasmania No
Glenn Sterle WA No
Anne Urquhart Tasmania No
Murray Watt Queensland No
Penny Wong SA No
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania Absent
Kim Carr Victoria Absent
Anthony Chisholm Queensland Absent
Chris Ketter Queensland Absent
Helen Polley Tasmania Absent
Louise Pratt WA Absent
Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party Yes
Derryn Hinch Victoria Derryn Hinch's Justice Party Yes
Sue Lines WA Deputy President No
Lucy Gichuhi SA Independent Yes
Jacqui Lambie Tasmania Independent Yes
David Leyonhjelm NSW Liberal Democratic Party Yes
Liberal National Party (50% turnout) 1 Yes 0 No
Matthew Canavan Queensland Yes
James McGrath Queensland Absent
Liberal Party (81% turnout) 17 Yes 0 No
Christopher Back WA Yes
Simon Birmingham SA Yes
George Brandis Queensland Yes
David Bushby Tasmania Yes
Michaelia Cash WA Yes
Mathias Cormann WA Yes
Jonathon Duniam Tasmania Yes
David Fawcett SA Yes
Mitch Fifield Victoria Yes
Jane Hume Victoria Yes
Ian Macdonald Queensland Yes
James Paterson Victoria Yes
Marise Payne NSW Yes
Linda Reynolds WA Yes
Anne Ruston SA Yes
Scott Ryan Victoria Yes
Dean Smith WA Yes
Eric Abetz Tasmania Absent
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW Absent
Zed Seselja ACT Absent
Arthur Sinodinos NSW Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 4 Yes 0 No
Bridget McKenzie Victoria Yes
Fiona Nash NSW Yes
Barry O'Sullivan Queensland Yes
John Williams NSW Yes
Nick Xenophon Team (100% turnout) 3 Yes 0 No
Stirling Griff SA Yes
Skye Kakoschke-Moore SA Yes
Nick Xenophon SA Yes
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party (75% turnout) 3 Yes 0 No
Peter Georgiou WA Yes
Pauline Hanson Queensland Yes
Malcolm Roberts Queensland Yes
Brian Burston NSW Absent
Stephen Parry Tasmania President Yes
Totals (84% turnout) 34 Yes – 30 No