A deed was signed in March 1993 binding the government to this commitment. Public outrage at government funding of a project for the sole benefit of private developers, led South Australian Legislative Council member and leader of the Australian Democrats, Mike Elliott, to call for a Parliamentary inquiry into the bridge and the financial arrangements between the government and Westpac. One of its terms of reference dealt specifically with the propriety of the government's decision in conferring private benefits at taxpayers' expense. The inquiries’ findings criticised the financial arrangements between the government, the Chapmans and Westpac, and recommended that the government reconsider the bridge and examine whether the bridge could be replaced by a second ferry.