Compare how Ian Macdonald and David Smith voted on increasing freedom of political communication

Now this is where it gets a bit tricky… Two people might vote the same way on votes they both attended, so their votes are 100% in agreement. They might also have voted in a way we’d describe differently when looking at all of one person's votes. If the other person didn’t or couldn’t have attended those votes we leave those out of the comparison. Because that just wouldn’t be fair now, would it?

Most important divisions relevant to this policy

These are the most important divisions related to the policy “for increasing freedom of political communication” which either Ian Macdonald or David Smith could have attended. They are weighted much more strongly than other divisions when calculating the position of Ian Macdonald and David Smith on this policy. Where a person could not have attended a division because they were not a member of parliament at the time (or in the wrong house) it is marked as "-".

Division	Ian Macdonald	David Smith	Supporters vote
28th Jun 2018, 6:25 PM – Senate National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Bill 2018 - in Committee - Freedom of speech	absent	No	Yes
26th Mar 2015 – Senate Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2015 - Third Reading - Pass the bill	Yes	-	No
26th Nov 2014, 12:47 PM – Senate Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014 - Third Reading - Pass the bill	Yes	-	No
26th Nov 2014 – Senate Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014 - in Committee - Control orders only if support/facilitation already provided	No	-	No
28th Oct 2014, 9:32 PM – Senate Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill 2014 - In Committee - Add extra defences to unauthorise disclosure offence	absent	-	Yes
25th Sep 2014, 9:31 PM – Senate National Security Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014 - Third Reading - Pass the bill	absent	-	No
25th Sep 2014 – Senate National Security Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014 - in Committee - Remove secrecy provisions	absent	-	Yes
13th Sep 2007, 12:39 PM – Senate Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Democratic Plebiscites) Bill 2007 - Second Reading - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights	absent	-	Yes

Other divisions relevant to this policy

These are less important divisions which are related to the policy “for increasing freedom of political communication” which either Ian Macdonald or David Smith could have attended. Where a person could not have attended a division because they were not a member of parliament at the time (or in the wrong house) it is marked as "-".

Division	Ian Macdonald	David Smith	Supporters vote
24th Nov 2022, 1:09 PM – Representatives National Anti-Corruption Commission Bill 2022 - Consideration in Detail - Journalist activities not corrupt conduct	-	Yes	No
25th Jun 2018, 3:48 PM – Senate Motions - Charitable Organisations - Be wary of adverse impacts of foreign interference laws	No	Yes	Yes
29th Oct 2014, 11:00 AM – Senate Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill 2014 - in Committee - Limit who the advocating terrorism offence applies to	No	-	Yes
29th Oct 2014 – Senate Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill 2014 - Third Reading - Pass the bill	Yes	-	No
28th Oct 2014, 7:59 PM – Senate Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill 2014 — Second Reading - Agree with the bill's main idea	Yes	-	No
14th Nov 2013, 11:34 AM – Senate Motions - Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee Reference - Surveillance	absent	-	Yes