The Liberals' Peter Cain is the most inquisitive member of the Legislative Assembly, asking more than one in five of the questions put on notice to ministers so far this term.
Mr Cain has asked 277 questions in less than two years, which amounts to 21.8 per cent of the questions submitted in the 11th Assembly so far.
A Canberra Times analysis of the public questions-on-notice portal published by the Legislative Assembly showed Mr Cain was the leading asker of questions, followed by Greens leader Jo Clay, who had asked 196.
"We try to make sure no message goes unanswered and no legitimate question goes unasked. Questions on notice are one of the best tools we have to uncover information, build better policy and hold the government accountable, so we use them," Mr Cain said.
More than 1200 questions have been submitted since the start of the four-year term, which is close to its halfway point.
Members can put written questions on notice to government ministers in the Legislative Assembly, who then must answer in 30 days.
The questions have created the most work for the City and Government Services portfolio, which has had to provide answers for 230, or more than 18 per cent, of the questions.
The Planning and Sustainable Development portfolio was the next most questioned, with 121 questions.
Despite a stint outside shadow cabinet, Mr Cain has asked questions in the field of health, disability, economic development, education, heritage, housing, emergency services, sport and recreation and the public service.
"A lot of my questions start with someone contacting my office and saying, 'Peter, you might want to look at this.' People bring things to us because they know we'll actually look into them," he said.
"I have a fully formed electorate, being most of Belconnen, and very wide-ranging shadow portfolios. What we're uncovering points to a much bigger problem. Canberrans are delivering a lot of revenue to government but the services they rely on are going backwards."
Each question logged in the Assembly's system is on a single issue but may include a series of questions on the topic, meaning the precise number of questions asked of ministers is in fact much higher.
Mr Cain said he appreciated the hardworking public servants who put considerable effort into preparing accurate answers.
"But too often the final government response contains political spin, non-answers or deliberate evasiveness. Sometimes the most revealing thing about an answer is what it doesn't answer," he said.
"There are occasions where you have to wonder whether information prepared by public servants has been shaped, softened or reframed before the final answer, signed by the relevant minister, reaches me and the Assembly website.
"Good government shouldn't be afraid of a straight question. Canberrans deserve a straight answer."
Independents Fiona Carrick and Thomas Emerson, along with Deputy Opposition Leader Deborah Morris, have both notched up at least 100 questions.
Shane Rattenbury, who served as Greens leader until he retired from the Assembly in May, asked 118 questions in his only stint on the backbench after a long career in cabinet.
The Liberals' Chiaka Barry had asked 73 questions.
Ed Cocks, the opposition's Treasury spokesman, asked 13 questions, while the Liberals' James Milligan asked 10.
Opposition Leader Mark Parton has asked 14 questions, while former opposition leader Elizabeth Lee asked 26.
Labor's Caitlin Tough, now elevated to cabinet, and her party colleague Taimus Werner-Gibbings have asked two each.
The figures do not include questions asked and answered in question time or in committees, such as budget estimates.
