PUP leader says reason is that he is ‘negotiating with the government about passage of legislation’

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Clive Palmer has only attended just over 7% of all possible votes in parliament since he was elected.

Figures on parliamentary voting compiled by OpenAustralia show voting breakdowns for all House of Representatives and Senate bills. When MPs are ordered by the percentage of votes they have attended, Palmer is by far the lowest, having voted in only 15 out of a possible 196 votes, putting his attendance rate at 7.7%.



For comparison, the next lowest MP is Bob Katter, with 41.8%. Cathy McGowan, the only other new MP not in a major party, has an attendance rate of 87.8%. The average attendance rate is 93%.



Being absent from a vote is not necessarily due to an MP being absent from parliament, as it may also indicate deliberate abstention from the vote. The voting system in the Australian parliament only allows responses of ayes and noes, so any member wishing to abstain must leave the chamber and be recorded as absent.



When asked why his attendance rate was so low, Palmer said: “It’s because I’m negotiating with the government about the passage of their legislation.”



Many of Palmer’s votes relate to his business interests, including voting on the carbon tax repeal bill and the mining tax repeal bill.



Palmer responded to this by saying he does not have “business interests” as he is “retired from business”.



“My vote is not what’s important in the house. If I can assist our senators we’ll have the best outcome for Australia,” he said.



“I achieved the most of any member of parliament. In our party we get results and don’t sit in the parliament like puppets and follow the press.”



A Palmer United party spokesman said Palmer’s attendance rate at parliament was 70%. He said Palmer had been present at nine out of 15 sitting days in 2013 and 36 out of 49 in 2014. Some of the absences were due to illness, and the birth of Palmer’s daughter.



At the other end of the vote attendance scale were five MPs new to parliament. Coalition MPs Karen McNamara, Lucy Wicks, David Gillespie and Ann Sudmalis all had an attendance rate of 100%, as did Labor MP Andrew Giles.



Giles said attendance at votes was important, but other duties could lead to absences from politicians.



“As representatives it is a fundamental responsibility to participate in the business of parliament – and matters such as going to divisions [voting] are obviously significant decisions,” he said.



“Attendance at divisions needs to be considered in the context of all the other work that MPs do – on parliamentary committees and speaking in debates. This is sometimes overlooked as there is no easy tabulation of entire attendance at parliament house.”