All members of the ACT Legislative Assembly were urged to sign a letter to the Federal Parliament expressing their "collective concern" at "repeated attempts" to intervene in the territory's laws but this was dismissed by the Canberra Liberals.
Instead, the Canberra Liberals wanted to simply acknowledge there was tripartisan support in the Legislative Assembly for territory rights and Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee has sent her own separate letter.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr moved a motion in the territory's parliament on Wednesday morning about the letter and members were given until the end of the day to sign it.
The letter had the names of all 25 members and space for their signatures at the top.
"We must register opposition and disgust at this latest attempt to trample our human rights," Mr Barr said.
"This is a coordinated and consistent attack on territory rights [and] the rights of ACT residents to determine their own laws."
But Ms Lee has written her own letter on behalf of the Canberra Liberals saying the party supported territory rights.
"Despite unfounded and repeated attempts by the ACT Labor-Greens government to portray otherwise, all members of the Canberra Liberals remain committed to territory rights," Ms Lee's letter said.
There was a back-and-forth debate in the Assembly over the matter with Mr Barr agreeing to include amendments from Ms Lee but still include a call for all members to sign off on the letter.
The motion appeared designed to target the Canberra Liberals after deputy opposition leader Jeremy Hanson publicly supported an attempt from Queensland Liberal National senator Matt Canavan to hold a federal inquiry into the takeover of Calvary. Senator Canavan then introduced a bill which would compel the ACT government to hold an inquiry.
Ms Lee hit out at her federal colleagues last week after federal shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash introduced a bill to the Senate which would overturn the ACT's drug decriminalisation laws.
However, the Opposition Leader moved amendments to the motion and removed all references to the letter. She said the letter was a stunt and this was to distract from other issues.
"The Canberra Liberals strongly support territory rights. We did so at the beginning of the term and we do so now," Ms Lee said.
"Let's call this motion out for what it actually is - a political stunt aimed at deflecting from the real issues here and that is the deplorable way this Labor-Greens government treats Canberrans with disrespect and with contempt."
Mr Barr agreed to include Ms Lee's amendments in the motion, which said "all members of the ACT Legislative Assembly support the right of the ACT Legislative Assembly to make and pass its own laws" and "the tri-partisan support in the ACT Legislative Assembly for territory rights".
The Canberra Liberals did not vote against the final motion but will rely on their letter and not one from the Assembly.
The letter highlighted these two examples and said the members wanted to "express our collective concern with the repeated attempts by members of the Australian Parliament to unilaterally intervene in our democratically elected decision-making processes".
It also mentioned last year's successful repeal of the Andrews Bill, which blocked the ACT from legislating on voluntary assisted dying.
"Unfortunately, after righting this historical wrong, there has been two recent occurrences where members of the Australian Parliament have sought to intervene or overturn the expressed will of the ACT's elected legislature," the letter said.
The letter is addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Milton Dick and President of the Senate Sue Lines.
