Senate
Helen Polley
Helen Polley is an Australian Labor Party senator for Tasmania. First elected 1 July 2005.
- 2005 Entered federal parliament
- 2010 Became deputy Senate whip
- 2013 Left deputy Senate whip
- 2013 Named shadow aged-care secretary
- 2016 Became shadow assistant minister
- 2019 Left shadow ministry
- Australian Labor Party
What do they focus on?
Not enough tracked speeches or amendments to say yet.
Bars show tracked speeches and amendments by policy area.
How do they vote?
Share of recorded votes on the same side as each party's majority.
954 tracked votes while with Labor.
How do they compare?
- Years in parliament i Total time served across every stint in either chamber, up to the end of the tracked record. 21 yrs 0.2 avg 8.5 yrs 33.3
- Votes against their party i Recorded votes cast against their own party's majority side. The average is across party members only. 1 avg 0.6 26
- Bills introduced i Bills they introduced to Parliament, counted across the tracked record. 0 avg 2.8 46
- Amendments sponsored i Amendments to bills they put forward during debate, counted across the tracked record. 0 avg 7.9 226
The marker starts at their party’s position and shifts only for floor-crossings towards a neighbouring party. No topic strip is shown because their economic, social and environment votes followed the party line.
What have they done lately?
Recent activity in the pack includes a 30 June speech supporting the nurse-prescribing bill, followed on 1 July by No votes on three specific amendments concerning the bill and podiatrists’ access to subsidised prescriptions; all three carried. On 29 June, she voted Aye when the Senate passed the workplace-relations bill. On 22 June, she voted No on two procedural questions about the NDIS bill—suspending business rules and proceeding with consideration.
When do they vote against their party?
1 time across 954 tracked votes. Most recently:
- 24 Nov 2022 Senate voted on the bill's second reading
What do they say in debate?
46 tracked speeches across 43 bills.
- 44 backing a bill
- 0 with reservations
- 1 against
- 1 no clear position
Go deeper
Every figure links to a cited page.
About these numbers
Based on 766 tracked bills from the 47th and 48th Parliaments, current to 6 July 2026. This is a sample of parliamentary activity, not the complete record.
Career markers come from dated public records. Voting figures use division lists only. For party members, the left-to-right marker begins at the party position. It moves only when the member votes against that party and on the same side as a neighbouring party; other cross-party combinations do not affect it. Independents and minor-party members are placed by their votes in divisions where the Greens and the Coalition took opposite sides. If this position differs from a member’s broader public politics, a note appears below the strip.