Page 1738 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 6 June 2006
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drivers in? I would like to hear what he has got to say in response to that question. If he has got something creative to say about this, then the opposition will be interested to have a look at it.
I fail to see how the fines, on their own, will achieve anything other than a further deterioration in relations between the government and Canberra Cabs. I do not think the minister would want to see that relationship deteriorate, but that is what is going to happen. If he is going to fine them and impose standards upon them but not allow them the instruments by which they can hold their drivers accountable, I think we are going to see more conflict between Canberra Cabs and the government and not necessarily a resolution of the problem with a better and more reliable service.
If Mr Hargreaves has got some other initiatives going to the core of that question, then I am very, very keen to hear his answer to that as well. The government needs to provide more serious support to the taxi industry through better legislation and regulation than is currently the case. By instinct, the Liberal government—I am sorry, the Liberal Party, be it in government or opposition, does not necessarily—
Mr Hargreaves: You have got your ambitions mixed up with your capabilities there.
MR PRATT: Yes, divine thinking. Mr Speaker, we would prefer not to impose more regulation and regulation upon regulation to achieve a standard of service to the community. Instinctively, we would prefer to see the government allow a playing field and to set a framework in place that allows private business to come in and self-regulate to make sure that those standards work. Of course, at the end of the day government does have a role to play in ensuring that government lays down the standard. If that means more regulation, so be it. If there is another way in which the government can encourage competitors to come into the market with the incentive to impose standards by self-regulation, that ultimately would be the best option. Failing that, the government is probably going to have to put regulations in place itself.
The bill will also simplify provisions in the Road Transport (Public Passenger Services) Act 2001 regarding the accreditation of taxi networks so that there is only one type of accreditation process. One would assume this is a sensible approach, and only time will tell if this streamlined accreditation process works. At this stage there is nothing to suggest that it will not and the opposition will support this simplification of the accreditation procedures. The government’s bill will also transfer enter and search powers from regulation to primary legislation in line with the recommendation of the scrutiny of bills committee. This is a welcome amendment and the opposition is quite happy with that.
In conclusion, the opposition supports the bill, as it is a step in the right direction. However, the opposition notes with concern that simply introducing more taxi plates into the system will not address the problems of poor service that I know the minister is certainly well aware of. We all are in this place. The Stanhope government really needs to address minimum service standards, as current regulations do not ensure taxi pick-ups for passengers are guaranteed.
We know from statistics we are seeing that the reliability rate is reasonably high, but it is still not high enough to provide the fundamental service that Canberrans need from their
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