The ACT Opposition has indicated it will likely block proposals to double the size of the Legislative Assembly over the next decade.
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An independent review has recommended the size of the ACT Legislative Assembly should increase to 25 MLAs across five electorates in 2016, and a second increase to 35 members across five electorates should occur in either 2020 or 2024.
But ACT Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson said he would not back changes to the current 17-member assembly without a ''compelling argument'' for more politicians.
Mr Hanson said the present assembly should simply become more efficient.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said on Tuesday she would not take lectures from the opposition about ''breakdowns in governance'' if they refused to support the report's findings. Any change to the number of territory politicians requires the support of two-thirds of the assembly.
ACT Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury said he supported a larger assembly, but favoured keeping three electorates instead of moving to five.
The review by an expert reference group appointed by Ms Gallagher says the assembly of 17 MLAs is too small, particularly the ministry, and ''poses a significant risk to good government in the ACT''.
The report found the workload was becoming too high for the number of MLAs and ministers were juggling too many portfolios.
The report's chairman, ACT electoral commissioner Phil Green, said Canberrans were under-represented ''across the board'' compared with jurisdictions with similar populations in Australia, and around the world.
The panel said options of 25, 27 and 35 MLAs were all considered viable but none were ideal. The review suggests a ''transitional'' increase to 25 MLAs, spread across five electorates of five members, in 2016.
A move to 25 MLAs, including eight ministers, would add about $6.3 million a year to the ACT budget and would split the districts of Tuggeranong and Belconnen between electorates.
The report recommends a 35-member assembly, with five electorates returning seven MLAs, in either 2020 or 2024, after the territory's population passes 400,000.
''If the assembly does not accept an increase to 25 members, the ERG [expert reference group] supports an increase to 27 members at the 2016 election, consisting of three electorates each returning nine members,'' the report says.
Ms Gallagher welcomed the recommendations but said any change to the size of the assembly required the support of two-thirds of the 17 MLAs, which would mean backing from the opposition.
Mr Hanson said he would consider the review but ''there is an argument that the assembly could become more effective and efficient within its current resources''.
The Opposition Leader said he was ''not yet convinced'' of the need for a larger assembly. ''Until I see a compelling argument for change then our position is the status quo and we'll continue to review it,'' he said.
Ms Gallagher said she hoped the matter could be settled by the end of the year. If the Liberals did not support an increase she would have to consider other ways to make the workload more manageable. ''I'm not going to take any lectures from the opposition about any breakdowns in governance if they're not prepared, on the one hand, to increase the size of the assembly.''