Helen Polley
Senator for Tasmania · Australian Labor Party
Attendance
74%
5,084 of 6,868 divisions
Voted against their party
0
Never crossed the floor
Policy areas voted on
245
scored by They Vote For You
Voted consistently for
95% or more of their votes supported these positions.
- tobacco plain packaging
- increasing competition in bulk wheat export
- recognising local government in the Constitution
- carbon farming
- giving apprentices access to a $20,000 loan
- increasing support for community radio and TV
- making Australians working overseas repay their student debts
- revoking citizenship of dual nationals involved with terrorism offences by the minister
Voted consistently against
5% or fewer of their votes supported these positions.
- civil celebrants having the right to refuse to marry same-sex couples
- same-sex marriage equality
- increasing the age pension
- a review of our representatives' eligibility
- pill testing
- decreasing government funding for private schools
- increasing the financial return on fossil fuels
- landholders' right to say no to mining and gas exploration
Voted both ways
Positions where Helen’s votes fall on both sides. Each of these policies groups dozens of divisions across many years, including procedural motions and narrow amendments. Follow a link to see the votes.
- 50%increasing Aboriginal land rights
- 50%offshore processing for people seeking asylum in Australia
- 50%funding the national school chaplaincy program
- 50%greater public scrutiny of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations
- 50%stopping tax avoidance or aggressive tax minimisation
- 50%increasing funding for legal aid
Work expenses
all expenses$438,209 claimed over 4 quarters (Apr–Jun 2025 to Jan–Mar 2026), 1.12× the median for TAS.
- Office Facilities$115k
- Office Administration$103k
- Employee Travel$83k
- Scheduled Commercial Transport$49k
- Other Car Costs$39k
- Travel Allowance$36k
How to read this
- They Vote For You groups related divisions into plain-language "policies" and scores how often each member voted with that position. Those groupings are editorial judgements made by the OpenAustralia Foundation, not official parliamentary categories.
- An agreement score in the middle of the range means the member voted on both sides of that policy over time. That is normal: policies aggregate dozens of divisions across many years, including procedural motions and narrow amendments. We deliberately publish no "flip-flop" score, because when we measured it, almost every member qualified — it reflects how the scoring works, not anyone's conduct.
- Attendance excludes periods before a member was elected, but members may be absent for legitimate reasons including illness, parental leave, or official duties. A low rate is not by itself evidence of anything.
- Only members currently serving are included. A vote is recorded against the person, not the seat.
- Work expenses cover offices, staff, travel and communications. Claims are certified by the parliamentarian and administered by IPEA.
- Totals are not directly comparable between members. Electorate size drives travel costs, and ministers travel more than backbenchers. Members are therefore compared against the median for their own state or territory.
- Former parliamentarians — including former prime ministers, who retain certain entitlements — are reported separately and excluded from member comparisons.
- IPEA publishes quarterly and later issues adjustments for administrative errors. Figures for recent quarters may change slightly.
Full record for Helen Polley at They Vote For You, licensed under the Open Database License (ODbL). Retrieved 2026-07-22.