The majority voted against a motion to suspend the usual procedural rules - known as standing orders - in order to let another vote take place. This means that other vote won't happen.

Motion text

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion immediately—

That the House:

(1) expresses its grave concern at the vicious rise of antisemitic vilification in our country, and the breakdown in social cohesion occurring in our communities;

(2) expresses its grave concern that social disharmony has reached dangerous levels, and that community safety is now at significant risk;

(3) condemns the Prime Minister's failure to show the strong leadership required to overcome divisions within his own caucus, to stamp out antisemitism and bring our country together;

(4) expresses its concern that community safety in this country has been further threatened by the release of more than 80 hardcore criminals from immigration detention into the Australian community;

(5) expresses its deep concern that this cohort includes individuals who have committed acts of child rape, murder, sexual assault, and other violent crimes;

(6) condemns the Government for catastrophically and demonstrably failing to prepare contingencies for High Court proceedings where it fully aware of the risks;

(7) condemns the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs for consequently undertaking an unprecedented and shocking mass release of dangerous criminal non-citizens into the Australian community; and

(8) therefore calls on the Prime Minister to:

(a) understand that his priority must be the protection of the Australian community at home;

(b) cancel his plans to travel to the United States;

(c) urgently convene a National Cabinet meeting to formulate a strong and coherent response to combat the rise of antisemitism, repair social cohesion and protect community safety;

(d) urgently bring forward any legislation necessary to neutralise the threat posed by the hardcore criminals his Government has released into the Australian Community; and

(e) amend the days and hours of sitting to facilitate the passage of such legislation prior to the rising of the Parliament this week.

The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). This means that the usual motion will remain unchanged. The amendment was introduced by Deakin MP Michael Sukkar (Liberal).

Amendment text

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:

(1) notes:

(a) the severe workforce shortages across the country, high levels of job vacancies and employing businesses having difficulty finding suitable staff;

(b) hiring and retaining employees remains a key challenge for small businesses;

(c) under the Government, the cost of food is up by 8.2 per cent; the cost of housing is up 10.4 per cent; the cost of insurance is up by 17 per cent; the cost of electricity is up by 18.2 per cent and the cost of gas is up 28 per cent; and

(d) the failure of the Government to tackle the escalating cost of living that is impacting older Australians; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) increase the work bonus from $300 to $600 a fortnight to incentivise eligible pensioners to work more hours without penalty from 1 January 2024; and

(b) review this increase every 12 months to ensure these settings remain appropriate".

The majority voted against a motion to suspend the usual procedural rules - known as standing orders - in order to let another vote take place. This means that other vote will not occur. There was one rebellion, with Bass MP Bridget Archer (Liberal) crossing the floor to vote against the rest of her party.

Motion text

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion immediately:

That the House calls on the Prime Minister to:

(1) support the Opposition's call for a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities;

(2) audit spending on Indigenous programs; and

(3) support practical policy ideas to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians to help Close the Gap.

The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). Because this vote was unsuccessful, the usual second reading motion will remain unchanged. The amendment was introduced by Hume MP Angus Taylor (Liberal).

Amendment text

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House notes:

(1) the former Coalition government implemented more than a dozen measures to combat multinational tax avoidance including by:

(a) playing a leading role in the original OECD BEPS project, and committing to the OECD two-pillar solution to multinational tax; and

(b) introducing the Multinational Tax Avoidance Law; the Diverted Profits Tax; strengthening the thin capitalisation and transfer pricing rules; doubling penalties for multinational tax avoidance; and establishing the Tax Avoidance Taskforce;

(2) that despite promising to only raise taxes on multinationals at the election, the Labor Government have broken promises to raise taxes on superannuation, on unrealised capital gains, on franking credits, and end small business tax incentives;

(3) that the original form of this Bill, and its last-minute changes, show once again that Labor have an anti-business approach to consultation, regulation and policy to support business;

(4) independent economist Chris Richardson expects that Labor will breach the 23.9% tax-to-GDP cap in their first year in office; and

(5) that higher taxes are not a solution to a cost-of-living crisis and collapsing productivity under Labor".

The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the Senate amendments. This means that the bill in its final form has now been agreed to in both the House and the Senate and so it will now become law.

What does this bill do?

According to the bills digest summary:

• The Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill 2023 (the Bill) amends the Jobs and Skills Australia Act 2022 (the JSA Act) to provide for governance arrangements and functions of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA).
• The JSA Act established JSA as a statutory body within the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) and set out its interim functions and staffing arrangements, including establishing a JSA Director to commence JSA’s work.
• This Bill establishes the permanent arrangements for JSA, following consultation.
• The Bill amends the JSA Act to establish the role of the JSA Commissioner and JSA Deputy Commissioners, establish a Ministerial Advisory Board, and expand the functions of JSA. It also sets out transparency measures in relation to JSA’s work plan and reporting and provides for a review of the operation of the JSA Act in 2 years.