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1. What was proposedMark PartonLiberal · Opposition
   Read the original wording (350 words)

   That this Assembly: (1) notes that: (a) Mr Saul Eslake’s report for the Select Committee on the Fiscal Sustainability of the ACT was published on 19 May 2026; (b) Mr Eslake’s report described the ACT’s financial position as unsustainable, and called on the Government to adopt a “more disciplined fiscal strategy”; (c) the report suggests that significant deterioration in the financial position of the ACT has been driven entirely by “conscious policy decisions taken by the ACT Government”; (d) the ACT’s general government net debt increased tenfold, from $910 million at the end of the 2014-2015 financial year to $9.15 billion at the end of the 2024-2025 financial year; (e) the report states that “a large number of capital initiatives, entirely funded by debt, have also detracted from the overall cash balance”; and (f) the report states that “in a democracy, Governments should be transparent about financial decisions, and not seek to conceal the true cost behind commercial-in-confidence rationale”; (2) further notes that: (a) Stage 1 of the tram between Gungahlin and Civic was delivered in 2019 at a total cost of $1.65 billion once the monthly payments to Canberra Metro conclude in the late 2030s; (b) the Government has already spent and committed to spending over $1.4 billion on Stage 2A of the tram including the raising of London Circuit, upgrades to the depot and the purchase of more rolling stock; (c) the Government has committed to delivering Stage 2B of the tram to Woden by 2034, but refuses to release any cost estimates of the project; (d) residents groups and engineers have estimated the cost of Stage 2B to be somewhere between three and six billion dollars; and (e) the majority of this figure is not yet budgeted for and will likely be added to already ballooning debt; and (3) calls on the Government to table in the Assembly by the last sitting week in June the full early costings and timeline for Stage 2B of the tram. These costings should include early works, the extra Commonwealth Bridge span, all roadworks, tram stops, pedestrian infrastructure and additional rolling stock. Debate ensued.

2. What the Assembly decidedNot agreed

   Recorded vote on the final question

   Ayes 8

   • Chiaka Barry, Mark Parton, Peter Cain, Jeremy Hanson, Elizabeth Lee, James Milligan, Deborah Morris
   • Fiona Carrick

   Noes 12

   • Yvette Berry, Michael Pettersson, Chris Steel, Rachel Stephen-Smith, Caitlin Tough, Taimus Werner-Gibbings, Suzanne Orr, Marisa Paterson
   • Andrew Braddock, Jo Clay, Laura Nuttall
   • Thomas Emerson