ACT Labor members will debate whether the Commonwealth should hand over surplus ACT land to the territory government for free in the wake of the ACT having to pay $385 million for part of an old CSIRO experiment station.
A senior adviser to Treasurer Chris Steel has moved a motion for this weekend's party conference that would add a general resolution to the policy platform, calling on the Commonwealth to give surplus land for housing to the ACT government
The motion, if passed, would add a new paragraph to the ACT Labor platform, calling on the federal government to continuously review the surplus land it and its agencies hold in the territory.
The federal government should "ensure all excess land is transferred at no cost to the territory government for increased housing supply", the proposed general resolution said.
The Canberra Times asked if Mr Steel supported the position pushed for by one of his policy staff.
"The draft motion is not an ACT government endorsed position, nor a position from the Treasurer," an ACT Labor spokesman said.
"Outside of their functions as a ministerial adviser, staff are able to express their personal political opinions in forums such as the ACT Labor Party conference.
"The ACT government and the Commonwealth continue to work productively on initiatives that enable more housing in the ACT."
More than a decade of on-and-off talks came to an end in July when the ACT reached a deal to buy a tract of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's former experiment station in Canberra's north.
The ACT had to pay the Commonwealth government $385 million, which included GST, for the land, which will be used to build more than 3000 homes in a new suburb between Belconnen and Gungahlin.
The national science agency said it would invest the proceeds from the sale of 243 hectares into priority research infrastructure.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, who represents the ACT in the Senate, approved the sale of the site to the ACT government in February 2025.
Elements of ACT Labor are understood to be frustrated a federal Labor government has not unlocked significant progress on a housing debt waiver or access to land.
The ACT government has raised the issue of waiving of the historical housing debt with the Commonwealth in at least 17 letters since 2019, plus at additional meetings and forums, and has long been committed to investing the savings into public housing.
"The earlier the Commonwealth waives the debt, the more funding that is available to be invested in social and affordable housing in the ACT," Chief Minister Andrew Barr told the Legislative Assembly in 2023.
The ACT owes the debt to the Commonwealth for the housing portfolio that was transferred to the territory at the start of self-government in 1989. The remaining loan period runs to 2042.
In December 2025, the outstanding debt was $64.9 million.
Mr Steel told budget estimates in July the Commonwealth had provided significant funds to the ACT to invest in new housing.
"I do not really mind where the money comes from, I just want more money to be able to deliver more housing and that is what they are doing through Housing Australia Future Fund, through all of the other programs," he said on July 21.
"And if their position is that they do not want to extinguish the debt and that they want to provide us with cash grants directly to Treasury to be able to support that new housing, I am fine with that."
ACT Labor members will meet on Saturday to debate general resolutions and changes to the party's platform.
Delegates to the conference are set to vote on motions related to social media addiction, artificial intelligence, road repairs, changing the Hare-Clark electoral system for Legislative Assembly elections and the establishment of electorate offices for Assembly members.
