THOMAS IN THE NEWS

A move to ban the gambling industry from making political donations has been launched in the ACT, as calls grow for stronger safeguards against the sector’s influence. 

The Independent Member for Kurrajong has welcomed the housing, community services and child safety commitments in this year’s ACT Budget, but has also expressed concern at the ongoing fiscal challenges faced by the territory.

Independent MLA Thomas Emerson has welcomed the housing, community services and child safety commitments contained in the 2026-27 ACT Budget, while expressing concern at the ongoing fiscal challenges faced by the Territory.

The gambling industry would be banned from using its cash to top up the coffers of political parties in the ACT under a law to be proposed by an independent politician who wants to...

A Canberra charity says outdated government-owned community facilities are preventing organisations from embracing electric vehicles, forcing them to spend time and money charging elsewhere.

Thomas Emerson MLA discussing the ACT's Inquiry into Men's Suicide Rates final report. 

Questions have been raised around how recommendations appeared in a draft technical report to look at re-classifying bare-nosed wombats as a controlled native species.

Student mechanics at the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) have been using electric vehicles (EVs) from car hire companies, including Hertz, pulling them apart and putting them back together without the company knowing, the...

Independent MLA Thomas Emerson has welcomed the ACT Government’s decision to spend $58.8 million on community services and frontline support programs in the 2026-27 Budget, describing the funding boost as overdue.

Independent MLA Thomas Emerson has questioned the independence of the Canberra Institute of Technology, calling for greater ministerial oversight.

The ACT government's local procurement spend plummeted from 54 per cent to just 34 per cent over the past six years, while the territory confirmed it does not centrally track how much of its...

Such and Such co-owner Ross McQuinn spent almost a year navigating four government departments just to install two umbrellas outside his city restaurant – a saga now being held up as evidence Canberra needs...

Canberrans are frustrated by "chronic underfunding of community sporting infrastructure" in the wake of a Kambah sportsground being ruled "completely unsafe", according to independent MLA Tom Emerson.

The ACT government announced the beginning of construction on the final section of a city cycleway despite works being delayed, with the Chief Minister sharing a post that was "not correct" on his Instagram.

Canberra Institute of Technology's chief executive Margot McNeill is under pressure to resign, after the release of a damning report into her recruitment.  It was revealed yesterday that an ACT Legislative Assembly inquiry found Dr...

The Canberra Institute of Technology’s recruitment of CEO Dr Margot McNeill last year was marred by ineffective due diligence, poor governance, and Dr McNeill’s failure to disclose misconduct findings in a timely way, a Legislative Assembly...

A fire-ravaged community building in Ainslie – long at the centre of debate over its future – is set to be demolished, with the ACT Government confirming plans to clear the site by the...

Independent MLA Thomas Emerson is supporting community calls for the ACT Government to expand the Sustainable Household Scheme to include e-bikes.

In Paris Lord’s novel idea for commuting, it doesn’t really matter what you’re wearing. A business suit is just as good as Lycra. “If you look at film footage of Canberra in the 1940s,...

New data shows that in 2024-25, the ACT Government spent an estimated $36.2 million on detaining Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Alexander Maconochie Centre and the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre, compared...