The ACT's opposition unsuccessfully attempted to censure Chief Minister Andrew Barr over a debate about the territory's finances.
Debate again erupted around how the territory measures its deficits, after Mr Barr was slammed by a former chief minister for saying no treasurer in the ACT had ever delivered a surplus under an Australian reporting standard.
Mr Barr made the claim in a parliamentary inquiry in February but this has been refuted by former chief minister Gary Humphries.
Mr Humphries said, in an opinion piece for The Canberra Times, he had delivered a surplus under the uniform presentation framework in the 1999-2000 financial year.
Mr Humphries also said Labor's Jon Stanhope and Katy Gallagher also delivered surpluses under the framework in the financial years ending June 30 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee challenged Mr Barr over Mr Humphries' comments in question time on Tuesday.
Ms Lee asked Mr Barr whether he stood by this and whether he wanted to correct the record.
Mr Barr said the accounting standards were different from what they were when Mr Humphries delivered the budget. He said the now-Senator Gallagher had handed down a surplus but this was not included in the budget papers, rather this occurred at the end of the financial year.
But the Chief Minister then said he was referring to budgets and not the final outcome.
He then said there was a difference between budgeting for a surplus versus the final outcome. Mr Barr said the conversation in the hearing was about the budgeted amount, not the final amount.
"The nature of the questioning in estimates was about budgeting for surpluses," he said.
"The follow-up questions continue to refer to hand down. Any common understanding of what is meant by handing down a budget is doing that, what is in the budget.
"What is in the final outcome as audited by the ACT Auditor General that is prepared 15 months after the budget is handed down... it's obviously a different matter and a different conversation."
The initial line of questioning in the hearing related to budgets and whether they accounted for a surplus, but Mr Barr was also asked about the delivery of a surplus.
Ms Lee said in the February 29 hearing: "You said, quite clearly and empathically earlier in this hearing, Mr Barr, that there is not a single treasurer in self-government history that has delivered a surplus under the UPF?"
Mr Barr responded: "I do not believe so, no."
Ms Lee attempted to bring forward a censure motion against the Chief Minister following the question time exchange but was not successful.
The territory measures its budget using a different framework than other states and territories, which use the uniform presentation framework.
The ACT's main budget measurement does not include the territory's superannuation liability when measuring its deficit.
This is the income earned on the territory's superannuation investments but it is not able to be used in budgeting - it can only be used to pay superannuation pensions to retired ACT public servants.
When the superannuation liability is included in the budget, it brings the territory's deficit to more than $1 billion. Under the measure used by the ACT government, the deficit is $782 million.
