❓ Opposition MP Rita Saffioti questions the Transport Minister Dean Nalder about the sale of taxi plates and potential deregulation without compensation. The Minister's response is considered evasive, leading to a point of order.
AnsweredQoN 539Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TAXIS —
PLATE UPGRADE PURCHASES
539. Ms R. SAFFIOTI to the
Minister for Transport:
I refer to the Barnett government allowing owners of
transferable restricted-hours taxi plates to buy an upgrade to full
conventional plates.
(1) How much did they pay the government?
(2) Why did
the government sell plates to taxidrivers if it is inevitable that the industry
will be deregulated without compensation?
(3) Does the
minister accept that his comments have reduced the value of these plates?
(4) Does the
minister stand by his comments that no compensation will be paid to taxi plate
owners when the industry is deregulated?
PLATE UPGRADE PURCHASES
539. Ms R. SAFFIOTI to the
Minister for Transport:
I refer to the Barnett government allowing owners of
transferable restricted-hours taxi plates to buy an upgrade to full
conventional plates.
(1) How much did they pay the government?
(2) Why did
the government sell plates to taxidrivers if it is inevitable that the industry
will be deregulated without compensation?
(3) Does the
minister accept that his comments have reduced the value of these plates?
(4) Does the
minister stand by his comments that no compensation will be paid to taxi plate
owners when the industry is deregulated?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(4)
I am really pleased to have been asked this question because it allows me to
put on record in the house exactly what was said yesterday and over the
weekend. After the state conference of the Liberal Party the question of
whether we would deregulate the taxi industry was put to me. I said that I
believed deregulation was inevitable; however, I said the issue is that we have
genuine small business people—this is the rest of what was said to the
media—who have purchased their plates, and so it is not so much an
issue of what we would like to do but a challenge of how. We do not want to
ruin the industry from the outset.
Point of Order
Ms
R. SAFFIOTI : I asked specific questions.
The
SPEAKER : Member for West Swan, are you asking the minister to get
back to the specific answers?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI :
The answers to the specific questions: How much was paid? Does the minister
accept that through his comments he has reduced the value of the plates? Does
he stand by his comments that no compensation will be paid?
The SPEAKER : I
think the minister was getting to the answer.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr D.C. NALDER : I
am a bit confused, because I thought this whole issue —
Mr W.J. Johnston interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cannington!
Mr D.C. NALDER : I
thought the crux of the issue was the comments I made in the media that got
played last night.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : I
will allow the minister to get to those answers as quickly as possible, thank
you.
Mr D.C. NALDER : I
am up and down like a yo-yo today and it is very difficult to get to the
answer. I said I believed that deregulation was inevitable, but I said there
was a difficulty with this issue because people have genuinely paid for plates
and the challenge for us is how we achieve that. That is not a simple thing; we
need to work it through. However, I reinforce the other comment I made: the
value of a taxi plate should not be based on a government regulation; it should
be based on the quality of the customer service proposition, and to date, the
community actually says that the customer proposition of taxis is not satisfactory
in Western Australia. Therefore, there is a responsibility to look at it.
Whenever there is a problem within the taxi industry, the government is held to
account. The government carries the risk within the taxi industry, but the
government does not make any return out of the industry; it is a private
industry. Reform is required and we need to work through that reform. I said
that there are challenges around existing businesses having purchased taxi
licences and, on that basis, we need to move very carefully around that reform
and think it through. However, we need to shift the risk from government and
onto the taxi industry itself.
I am really pleased to have been asked this question because it allows me to
put on record in the house exactly what was said yesterday and over the
weekend. After the state conference of the Liberal Party the question of
whether we would deregulate the taxi industry was put to me. I said that I
believed deregulation was inevitable; however, I said the issue is that we have
genuine small business people—this is the rest of what was said to the
media—who have purchased their plates, and so it is not so much an
issue of what we would like to do but a challenge of how. We do not want to
ruin the industry from the outset.
Point of Order
Ms
R. SAFFIOTI : I asked specific questions.
The
SPEAKER : Member for West Swan, are you asking the minister to get
back to the specific answers?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI :
The answers to the specific questions: How much was paid? Does the minister
accept that through his comments he has reduced the value of the plates? Does
he stand by his comments that no compensation will be paid?
The SPEAKER : I
think the minister was getting to the answer.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr D.C. NALDER : I
am a bit confused, because I thought this whole issue —
Mr W.J. Johnston interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cannington!
Mr D.C. NALDER : I
thought the crux of the issue was the comments I made in the media that got
played last night.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : I
will allow the minister to get to those answers as quickly as possible, thank
you.
Mr D.C. NALDER : I
am up and down like a yo-yo today and it is very difficult to get to the
answer. I said I believed that deregulation was inevitable, but I said there
was a difficulty with this issue because people have genuinely paid for plates
and the challenge for us is how we achieve that. That is not a simple thing; we
need to work it through. However, I reinforce the other comment I made: the
value of a taxi plate should not be based on a government regulation; it should
be based on the quality of the customer service proposition, and to date, the
community actually says that the customer proposition of taxis is not satisfactory
in Western Australia. Therefore, there is a responsibility to look at it.
Whenever there is a problem within the taxi industry, the government is held to
account. The government carries the risk within the taxi industry, but the
government does not make any return out of the industry; it is a private
industry. Reform is required and we need to work through that reform. I said
that there are challenges around existing businesses having purchased taxi
licences and, on that basis, we need to move very carefully around that reform
and think it through. However, we need to shift the risk from government and
onto the taxi industry itself.
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