Page 436 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 20 February 2019
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all aware of it. If we fail to pass this bill, we will be failing the people of the ACT. If we fail, these events will become more and more violent. If we fail, there will be more shots ringing out in our suburbs, more fire bombings and more terror. If we fail, the next headline will not be “war zone”; I fear it may be “killing zone”.
I urge members of the Greens and Labor parties to put their factional allegiances aside and join with us in the most important responsibility to our community—keeping Canberra safe.
Debate (on motion by Mr Ramsay) adjourned to the next sitting.
Taxis—regulation
MISS C BURCH (Kurrajong) (10.23): I move:
That this Assembly:
(1) notes that:
(a) the Government has claimed to be “levelling the playing field” in the on-demand transport industry, while continuing to institute policies that disproportionately affect the ability of taxi services to remain profitable in comparison to other on-demand services;
(b) perpetual taxi plates previously valued at around $300 000 have lost around 75 percent of their value, and are now worth less than $80 000;
(c) the Government’s 2018 Evaluation of the 2015 Innovation Reforms to the On-Demand Transport Industry in the ACT shows that demand for taxi services has fallen dramatically since the introduction of rideshare in the ACT;
(d) despite the findings of this report, the Government announced it would release a further 142 taxi plates, causing the value of perpetual taxi plates to continue to fall to $45 000 to $50 000; and
(e) despite the significant loss in value and income for perpetual plate owners, the Government has refused to offer compensation or a buy-back scheme;
(2) further notes that:
(a) ACT taxi plate owners pay in excess of $20 000 per year total in insurance premiums, while Queanbeyan taxi plate owners pay just under $8000, and ACT rideshare drivers pay around $1800;
(b) applicants applying to become taxi drivers can wait up to nine weeks from applying to be granted a Working With Vulnerable Persons card, despite already having the prerequisite criminal history checks; and
(c) currently, vehicles that are used as taxis are only able to be in service for eight years, while vehicles used for other ridesharing purposes can be 10 years old; and
(3) calls on the Minister for Business and Regulatory Services to:
(a) provide financial compensation or a buy-back scheme for perpetual taxi-plate owners, who have had their investments crippled by the Government’s policy;
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