Recent federal and ACT inquiries have recommended pay parking in the two areas, which together have about 10,000 car park spaces.

At $7 a day, the parking would generate at least $17 million a year in revenue.

The ACT's State of the Environment Report found 81 per cent of Canberrans used cars to commute and only 7.9 per cent used public transport.

Environment Commissioner Maxine Cooper said introducing pay parking in the Parliamentary Triangle could form part of an ACT-wide parking strategy, which an ACT Legislative Assembly committee inquiry recommended.

The inquiry's chairman, Mick Gentleman, said pay parking should be encouraged in Barton, Forrest and Yarralumla as well.

Dr Cooper said, "It is beholden on us as the nation's capital to set the example.

"We here in Canberra have a lot of policies, our national environmental policies, so therefore if we are driving agendas for change, including greenhouse policies, let's do it locally. Let's walk the talk."

ACT Property Council executive director Catherine Carter said people were parking in the parliamentary triangle, Barton and Russell at no cost and walking into Civic, where a worsening shortage was evident in unsightly new parking on Lake Burley Griffin's shore.

ACT Transport Minister John Hargreaves said the imminent release of an integrated transport framework was linked to a separate parking strategy, but it did not include recommendations for the parliamentary triangle and Russell, which were owned by the Commonwealth.

It was up to the National Capital Authority to introduce it, or release land for private enterprise to develop multi-level paid car parking.

Mr Hargreaves said former Territories Minister Jim Lloyd's claim last year that paid parking in the parliamentary triangle would be introduced when the ACTION bus network was capable of handling demand was "scandalous claptrap".