Page 3783 - Week 13 - Thursday, 18 October 1990
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receives a useful return and will be set at a level which will ensure that the value of existing plates is not affected. It is apparent that illegal leasing arrangements are common in the ACT taxi industry. There has been no attempt in the past to prevent this practice, and I feel that there are advantages to the travelling public if the leasing of plates is permitted.
This Bill will allow a taxi or hire car licensee to lease his or her plate to another individual after notification to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. I anticipate that lessees of a taxi would be more committed to keeping the taxi on the road for longer periods than the casual licence holder or part-time operator. Current operators, who for one reason or another cannot operate their vehicles to full capacity, can allow someone else to do so whilst retaining the value of their capital investment.
In short, leasing arrangements of this type should encourage improved services to the community. My department will be requiring details of all leasing arrangements undertaken, to ensure that the actual operator of the vehicle is notified to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles and both the lessee and the owner are operating the taxi in compliance with the Motor Traffic Act and associated regulations. Removal of the prohibition on leasing will promote greater interest in the forthcoming auction of plates. Investors who do not wish to be involved in the actual day-to-day operations of a taxi business can now lease. This will also allow access to the industry to others who want to operate a taxi but lack the capital to invest in a taxi plate.
I should add that the option to lease will also be extended to hire car licensees, which reflects the many parallels between these two sectors of the public vehicle industry and the similar advantages that leasing will endow.
Although these two changes to current licensing arrangements may appear minor, Mr Speaker, they are important in helping to develop a more vibrant, client service oriented public vehicle industry. New and existing operators will be given the potential to earn higher returns on their investment and the incentive to increase the level of taxi and hire car services.
Perhaps most importantly, the travelling public, including business people and tourists, will benefit and that benefit will in turn flow on to the ACT community as a whole. I now present the explanatory memorandum for this Bill.
Debate (on motion by Mrs Grassby) adjourned.
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