Customs Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022 and four others

The majority voted against a second reading amendment introduced Western Australian Senators Dorinda Cox and Jordan Steele-John (Greens), which means it failed. The amendment would have added the text below to the usual second reading motion "that the bills be read a second time" - parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of a bill.

Amendment text

At the end of the motion, add ", but, in respect of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation Bills, the Senate notes that:

(a) the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review process made recommendations on 10 November 2022 relating to human rights abuses in India including in relation to ending attacks against minority communities and vulnerable groups, tackling gender-based violence, upholding civil society freedoms, protecting human rights defenders and independent media, and ending torture in custody; and

(b) in negotiating trade relationships, Australia must ensure that human rights are upheld by negotiating parties".