The Barr government has experienced a temporary setback on its bid to overhaul the ACT's compulsory third party insurance scheme, with the Greens banding together with the Liberals to push back the introduction of the bill until next year.
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The territory government had planned to table its draft legislation in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, after a month-long inquiry into the bill.
But with 346 pages of submissions to process, head of the Justice and Community Safety committee, Liberal MLA Elizabeth Lee, said they needed more time and sought to push back the reporting date until next February.
"The committee has received more than 60 submissions from organisations and more than 15 from individuals. The bill itself is 364 pages long," Ms Lee said.
"This issue as most members will be aware has garnered a lot of public discussion and ... it would only be fair to ensure it is given the proper treatment, the proper scrutiny and the proper opportunity for everyone in the community to have their say."
Manager of government business Mick Gentleman said he was concerned about the length of time being sought and tried to bring it forward to November 27.
"The government has already engaged extensively on this through the community consultation that commenced in August 2017, through the six-month citizen's jury process that incorporated detailed input form stakeholders as well as community members and direct engagement with stakeholders since the exposure draft was released," Mr Gentleman said.
"If committees are going to take the time that's been imposed here to inquire into the text of bills then this place will become unworkable, the work and progress of building a more vibrant and inclusive city will come to a halt, and important reforms will not be processed."
However, Greens crossbencher Caroline Le Couteur said Mr Gentleman's plan to have the government legislation introduced two days after the committee reported was "grossly disrespectful to the process".
She suggested a reporting deadline of December 14, so the government could bring forward its amended bill in the first sitting week of 2019.
Tabling the CTP bill was one of the four bucket list items the government had hoped to tick off in the final sitting weeks of this year.
Despite this, a spokeswoman for Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the government did not believe there would be any delays to getting the scheme up and running in the second half of 2019 at this stage.
The committee will hold its first public hearing on the CTP bill on Friday, with a further hearing in late November.
The proposed scheme was developed in line with priorities identified by a citizen's jury earlier this year.
Under the new scheme anyone injured in a motor vehicle accident will be able to access treatment, care and income support for up to five years, with the most seriously injured and the not-at-fault able to access additional benefits.
However, the scheme will rely on injury thresholds that will dramatically reduce the number of people able to pursue those extra benefits.
The legal profession is concerned the scheme also gives too much power to insurers, while insurers say the new model will make premiums cheaper by stopping fraud and curtailing lawyer profits.
