Mr KIELY - 2002-10-16
Can the minister advise whether he has completed work on changes to the commercial passenger vehicle industry? If so, what are the effects of the changes he proposes?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I am very happy to announce today that, following complex negotiations and discussions undertaken with the taxi industry, this government is taking measures to fix the industry that, unfortunately, the previous government managed to nearly ruin. Not only did they manage to nearly ruin it, but on top of that they gave us an extra $20m in debt. We had people working in the taxi industry for $3 an hour. We have had complaint after complaint.
I intend to introduce, in the November sittings, a detailed Ministerial Statement to allow all members of this House to air their views on this matter.
Let me tell you some of the things we are doing. We are trying to create a high quality industry that will deliver quality service to consumers. We want to make sure there is no fighting amongst the different sectors of the same industry. We want to ensure that workers take a decent income home, and create a climate where the industry and its consumers control its destiny.
Very briefly, the first thing we are doing is establishing a commercial passenger vehicle board. That board will provide advice to the minister on various aspects of the industry, will be responsible to oversee the entry standards for drivers and operators, and will overview the industry training requirements. It will consult with industry and will advise the minister with regards to fares and advise on the number of the taxis as required. It will also record operators’ maximum fares for taxis and minibuses.
All drivers will now require 78 hours training instead of 24 hours, to be consistent with other states. Training providers will be required to be independent of operators in Darwin and Alice Springs, and all new taxi drivers will have to have a licence for at least five years. However, the board will have the opportunity to waive this requirement for smaller centres. All commercial licences will require a full-year payment. If you try to get a new licence today, you have to pay $16 000 upfront and, after that, you pay $4000 every quarter. A new regulation will be phased in requiring the holder of a licence to directly be linked to the vehicle ownership.
Minibuses will continue to operate without meters. They will be able to pick up clients from the streets but within three years, they have to pay the same licence as a taxi, which today is $16 000. However, all new entries in the minibus sector have to pay $16 000 upfront from now.
The private hire category is out and we have three new categories: executive taxis, limousines and special function cars. Special function cars are the ones you use for weddings and other functions, limousines will be exactly the same way they operate down south – pre-booking only, while the executive taxis will be taxis with higher standards than the other taxis, better standards for the drivers and the fares will be different from the taxis.
The taxis will remain as they are now, and they will sit at ranks with executive taxis. We are trying to introduce a level playing field, and we believe we have achieved that. The first response we received from industry is positive. However, the board will be working very closely with the industry. There will be representatives from the taxi industry, consumers, people with disabilities, and tourism. They will work very closely with industry and the minister in order to fix the problem. But, as I said before, the previous government nearly managed to destroy the industry. The argument was: ‘Oh, you have to wait a lot to get a taxi’ instead of doing what other states did, phase in a number of licences, they decided to free the market. All of a sudden, we found out that the market is flooded, there are a lot of taxis operating for the same clientele and, as a result, the people would go home with $3 an hour.
Dr Lim: So when are you going to give me my briefing? I asked you 10 days ago. Are you going to give me the briefing, or aren’t you?
Mr VATSKALIS: I am prepared to offer a briefing to any member of this House who wishes to be briefed on this matter, and also to be constructive.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I am very happy to announce today that, following complex negotiations and discussions undertaken with the taxi industry, this government is taking measures to fix the industry that, unfortunately, the previous government managed to nearly ruin. Not only did they manage to nearly ruin it, but on top of that they gave us an extra $20m in debt. We had people working in the taxi industry for $3 an hour. We have had complaint after complaint.
I intend to introduce, in the November sittings, a detailed Ministerial Statement to allow all members of this House to air their views on this matter.
Let me tell you some of the things we are doing. We are trying to create a high quality industry that will deliver quality service to consumers. We want to make sure there is no fighting amongst the different sectors of the same industry. We want to ensure that workers take a decent income home, and create a climate where the industry and its consumers control its destiny.
Very briefly, the first thing we are doing is establishing a commercial passenger vehicle board. That board will provide advice to the minister on various aspects of the industry, will be responsible to oversee the entry standards for drivers and operators, and will overview the industry training requirements. It will consult with industry and will advise the minister with regards to fares and advise on the number of the taxis as required. It will also record operators’ maximum fares for taxis and minibuses.
All drivers will now require 78 hours training instead of 24 hours, to be consistent with other states. Training providers will be required to be independent of operators in Darwin and Alice Springs, and all new taxi drivers will have to have a licence for at least five years. However, the board will have the opportunity to waive this requirement for smaller centres. All commercial licences will require a full-year payment. If you try to get a new licence today, you have to pay $16 000 upfront and, after that, you pay $4000 every quarter. A new regulation will be phased in requiring the holder of a licence to directly be linked to the vehicle ownership.
Minibuses will continue to operate without meters. They will be able to pick up clients from the streets but within three years, they have to pay the same licence as a taxi, which today is $16 000. However, all new entries in the minibus sector have to pay $16 000 upfront from now.
The private hire category is out and we have three new categories: executive taxis, limousines and special function cars. Special function cars are the ones you use for weddings and other functions, limousines will be exactly the same way they operate down south – pre-booking only, while the executive taxis will be taxis with higher standards than the other taxis, better standards for the drivers and the fares will be different from the taxis.
The taxis will remain as they are now, and they will sit at ranks with executive taxis. We are trying to introduce a level playing field, and we believe we have achieved that. The first response we received from industry is positive. However, the board will be working very closely with the industry. There will be representatives from the taxi industry, consumers, people with disabilities, and tourism. They will work very closely with industry and the minister in order to fix the problem. But, as I said before, the previous government nearly managed to destroy the industry. The argument was: ‘Oh, you have to wait a lot to get a taxi’ instead of doing what other states did, phase in a number of licences, they decided to free the market. All of a sudden, we found out that the market is flooded, there are a lot of taxis operating for the same clientele and, as a result, the people would go home with $3 an hour.
Dr Lim: So when are you going to give me my briefing? I asked you 10 days ago. Are you going to give me the briefing, or aren’t you?
Mr VATSKALIS: I am prepared to offer a briefing to any member of this House who wishes to be briefed on this matter, and also to be constructive.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016