Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the main idea of the bill, which is known as giving the bill a second reading in parliamentary jargon. This means they can now discuss it in more detail.

What does this bill do?

According to the bill homepage, the bill:

Amends 29 Acts to update certain references associated with the Crown to reflect the accession of a new Sovereign.

Perth MP Patrick Gorman (Labor) explained that:

The government's view is that this bill is of an administrative nature that reflects the change that has occurred in Australia following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the ascension of King Charles III. We think other discussions could happen in other places, but this bill is of a purely administrative nature, and I'd urge all members to support it.

Berowra MP Julian Leeser (Liberal Party) explained why the Coalition opposes the bill:

The Crown References Amendment Bill 2023 makes several amendments to a variety of acts to replace references to 'Her Majesty', 'the Queen' and 'the King' with 'the Sovereign'. The bill creates a new term for senior counsel to include King's Counsel and Queen's Counsel. The bill amends oaths and affirmations by removing references to His or Her Majesty and replacing them with a direction to insert the applicable pronoun. The reason the coalition is opposing this is that when the coalition asked if the government had consulted with the Governor-General on the bill, we were advised that the Prime Minister and the cabinet had no intention of consulting the Governor-General until the bill had reached its royal assent stage. The government wanted to pass the Crown References Amendment Bill without even speaking to the King's representative in Australia, the Governor-General. The Prime Minister wanted to pass the Crown References Amendment Bill before speaking to the Crown. The coalition will not be supporting this bill until we have assurances that the government has consulted with the Crown's representative in Australia, the Governor-General.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (75% turnout) 3 Yes 0 No
Adam Bandt Melbourne Yes
Stephen Bates Brisbane Yes
Elizabeth Watson-Brown Ryan Yes
Max Chandler-Mather Griffith Absent
Australian Labor Party (92% turnout) 71 Yes 0 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler Yes
Anne Aly Cowan Yes
Michelle Ananda-Rajah Higgins Yes
Chris Bowen McMahon Yes
Tony Burke Watson Yes
Josh Burns Macnamara Yes
Mark Butler Hindmarsh Yes
Alison Byrnes Cunningham Yes
Jim Chalmers Rankin Yes
Andrew Charlton Parramatta Yes
Lisa Chesters Bendigo Yes
Sharon Claydon Newcastle Yes
Libby Coker Corangamite Yes
Julie Collins Franklin Yes
Pat Conroy Shortland Yes
Mary Doyle Aston Yes
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs Yes
Justine Elliot Richmond Yes
Cassandra Fernando Holt Yes
Mike Freelander Macarthur Yes
Carina Garland Chisholm Yes
Steve Georganas Adelaide Yes
Andrew Giles Scullin Yes
Patrick Gorman Perth Yes
Luke Gosling Solomon Yes
Julian Hill Bruce Yes
Ed Husic Chifley Yes
Stephen Jones Whitlam Yes
Ged Kearney Cooper Yes
Matt Keogh Burt Yes
Peter Khalil Wills Yes
Catherine King Ballarat Yes
Madeleine King Brand Yes
Tania Lawrence Hasluck Yes
Jerome Laxale Bennelong Yes
Andrew Leigh Fenner Yes
Sam Lim Tangney Yes
Zaneta Mascarenhas Swan Yes
Kristy McBain Eden-Monaro Yes
Emma McBride Dobell Yes
Louise Miller-Frost Boothby Yes
Brian Mitchell Lyons Yes
Rob Mitchell McEwen Yes
Daniel Mulino Fraser Yes
Shayne Neumann Blair Yes
Brendan O'Connor Gorton Yes
Clare O'Neil Hotham Yes
Alicia Payne Canberra Yes
Graham Perrett Moreton Yes
Fiona Phillips Gilmore Yes
Tanya Plibersek Sydney Yes
Sam Rae Hawke Yes
Gordon Reid Robertson Yes
Dan Repacholi Hunter Yes
Amanda Rishworth Kingston Yes
Tracey Roberts Pearce Yes
Michelle Rowland Greenway Yes
Joanne Ryan Lalor Yes
Marion Scrymgour Lingiari Yes
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Yes
Sally Sitou Reid Yes
David Smith Bean Yes
Anne Stanley Werriwa Yes
Meryl Swanson Paterson Yes
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith Yes
Kate Thwaites Jagajaga Yes
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell Yes
Tim Watts Gellibrand Yes
Anika Wells Lilley Yes
Josh Wilson Fremantle Yes
Tony Zappia Makin Yes
Matt Burnell Spence Absent
Linda Burney Barton Absent
Jason Clare Blaxland Absent
Richard Marles Corio Absent
Peta Murphy Dunkley Absent
Susan Templeman Macquarie Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance Absent
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker No
Kate Chaney Curtin Independent Yes
Zoe Daniel Goldstein Independent Yes
Andrew Gee Calare Independent Yes
Helen Haines Indi Independent Yes
Monique Ryan Kooyong Independent Yes
Sophie Scamps Mackellar Independent Yes
Allegra Spender Wentworth Independent Yes
Zali Steggall Warringah Independent Yes
Kylea Tink North Sydney Independent Yes
Andrew Wilkie Clark Independent Yes
Russell Broadbent Monash Independent No
Dai Le Fowler Independent Absent
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Yes
Liberal National Party (100% turnout) 0 Yes 9 No
Angie Bell Moncrieff No
Colin Boyce Flynn No
Cameron Caldwell Fadden No
Garth Hamilton Groom No
Henry Pike Bowman No
Phillip Thompson Herbert No
Andrew Wallace Fisher No
Andrew Willcox Dawson No
Terry Young Longman No
Liberal Party (91% turnout) 0 Yes 30 No
Karen Andrews McPherson No
Bridget Archer Bass No
Scott Buchholz Wright No
David Coleman Banks No
Warren Entsch Leichhardt No
Paul Fletcher Bradfield No
Ian Goodenough Moore No
Andrew Hastie Canning No
Alex Hawke Mitchell No
Luke Howarth Petrie No
Julian Leeser Berowra No
Nola Marino Forrest No
Melissa McIntosh Lindsay No
Zoe McKenzie Flinders No
Ted O'Brien Fairfax No
Tony Pasin Barker No
Gavin Pearce Braddon No
Melissa Price Durack No
Rowan Ramsey Grey No
James Stevens Sturt No
Michael Sukkar Deakin No
Angus Taylor Hume No
Dan Tehan Wannon No
Bert Van Manen Forde No
Ross Vasta Bonner No
Aaron Violi Casey No
Jenny Ware Hughes No
Rick Wilson O'Connor No
Keith Wolahan Menzies No
Jason Wood La Trobe No
Peter Dutton Dickson Absent
Sussan Ley Farrer Absent
Scott Morrison Cook Absent
National Party (83% turnout) 0 Yes 10 No
Sam Birrell Nicholls No
Darren Chester Gippsland No
Pat Conaghan Cowper No
Kevin Hogan Page No
Barnaby Joyce New England No
Michelle Landry Capricornia No
Michael McCormack Riverina No
Llew O'Brien Wide Bay No
Keith Pitt Hinkler No
Anne Webster Mallee No
David Gillespie Lyne Absent
David Littleproud Maranoa Absent
Milton Dick Oxley Speaker Absent
Totals (90% turnout) 85 Yes – 51 No