With the election of independent MP Kerryn Phelps and Julia Banks’s move to the crossbench, the Coalition government is now without a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
How will this new state of affairs affect voting on matters such as referring politicians to the high court over eligibility concerns, or the passing or blocking of legislation?
In the Senate, if all 76 senators are present, 39 are needed to pass legislation, and 38 are needed to block.
In the lower house, which has 150 seats, it gets more complicated, with two different majority voting thresholds.
An absolute majority of 76 votes is required to suspend standing orders. Suspending standing orders can be done to enable a motion to be moved without notice, or to enable a particular item of business to be considered immediately.
This means an absolute majority is required for Labor, with crossbench support, to put legislation to the house for a vote, or to put forward a vote of no confidence in the government. This is because both actions require the suspension of standing orders.
In all other situations a simple majority is sufficient. A majority of MPs present is required for the government to pass legislation, for the government or opposition to block legislation, or for the house to refer an MP to the high court.
In the lower house, the speaker can cast a vote only when the vote is tied. In the current government this would usually happen only if an MP was absent.
The following voting calculator lets you compare different voting situations in both houses. For simplicity’s sake it assumes all politicians are present at the vote.
If you want to know more about a politician’s voting record, you can find their voting history here.
