Senate
Simon Birmingham
Simon Birmingham was a Liberal Party of Australia senator for South Australia. First elected 3 May 2007.
- 2007 Entered Senate
- 2015 Became education minister
- 2018 Trade minister, deputy leader
- 2020 Finance minister, led government
- 2020 Left trade ministry
- 2022 Lost government, led opposition
- 2024 Announced retirement
- 2025 Left parliament
- Liberal Party of Australia
What do they focus on?
Within the tracked sample of 713 bills from the 47th and 48th Parliaments, his nine tracked speeches covered workplace law, including the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Closing Loopholes bill; military secrets in Defence Amendment (Safeguarding Australia’s Military Secrets); and family-court information sharing in Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing). His 128 tracked votes across 39 bills included ending live sheep exports by sea Export Control Amendment (Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea), creating a body for the net-zero transition Net Zero Economy Authority, and migration removal rules Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures).
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.
128 tracked votes while with Liberal.
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. 17.7 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. 4 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. 3 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. Medium confidence: fewer recorded votes so far.
What have they done lately?
Simon Birmingham left parliament on 28 Jan 2025. This card covers their full tracked record.
When do they vote against their party?
4 times across 128 tracked votes. Most recently:
- 22 Aug 2024 Reject COVID-19 inquiry bill
- 01 Dec 2022 Restrict territory euthanasia laws
- 01 Dec 2022 Call for tighter assisted-dying drug controls
- 24 Nov 2022 Senate voted on the bill's second reading
What do they say in debate?
9 tracked speeches across 9 bills.
- 6 backing a bill
- 2 with reservations
- 1 against
- 0 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.