❓ Question regarding the government's Taxi Action Plan and the opposition's taxi policy. The Minister for Transport provides an update on initiatives to improve taxi availability, security, and standards, while criticising the opposition's stance on limiting taxi numbers.
AnsweredQoN 632Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TAXI ACTION PLAN
Given the excellent work that this government is doing to improve the taxi industry, which, incidentally, was left in a shambles by the Labor government, can the minister please provide the house with an update on the taxi action plan and the opposition’s taxi policy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL
Given the excellent work that this government is doing to improve the taxi industry, which, incidentally, was left in a shambles by the Labor government, can the minister please provide the house with an update on the taxi action plan and the opposition’s taxi policy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Mount Lawley very much for the question. As I have said a number of times in this house and elsewhere publicly, there are three fundamental issues with taxis—availability, security and standards. That basically means people need to get a cab when they want one; drivers should know where to take their passengers; and both passengers and drivers should enjoy a safe environment in the cabs. On that basis, we have introduced a number of initiatives in security. The new secure rank at Northbridge is under construction. We have announced $8 million to ensure Western Australians taxis are fitted with the safest cameras in Australia to protect drivers and passengers. We are looking at introducing on-road security patrols linked to duress alarms to provide more security for drivers. To improve standards, two more compliance vehicles are on the roads on Friday and Saturday nights when 40 per cent of all trips are taken in taxis. We are reviewing training standards and working with the industry to implement a demerit-points system. A very interesting point of difference on availability is emerging between the government and the opposition. My view is that there are not enough cabs on the roads in Western Australia. That leads to a lot of frustration for people when they attempt to either hail a cab or book a cab. We use a measure called “jobs not covered”. At the moment, the jobs not covered figure is much higher than we think it should be if it were to correspond to an effective realistic level of service. Mr R.H. Cook : What is the level now? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The level now is 2.9 per cent in the peak period and 1.08 per cent in the off-peak period. Our standards are 0.5 per cent in the off-peak period and one per cent in the peak period, so clearly those standards are not being met and we need to take action. The action is pretty simple: we have introduced regulations into this place to free up potentially 300 additional taxi plates. We will then introduce those to the market in a staggered way to make sure that jobs not covered figure is driven down and taxi standards are improved. I think it is pretty obvious. Interestingly, on top of that, taxi demand last year grew by 10 per cent. Mr Speaker, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the radio news this morning and I discovered perhaps the only person in Western Australia who thinks we should restrict the number of cabs on the road. The only person in Western Australia who thinks we should have—aside from members of the taxi industry, I should say! They do have a slight vested interest; only a slight vested interest in restricting assets. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I thank the member for Mount Lawley very much for the question. As I have said a number of times in this house and elsewhere publicly, there are three fundamental issues with taxis—availability, security and standards. That basically means people need to get a cab when they want one; drivers should know where to take their passengers; and both passengers and drivers should enjoy a safe environment in the cabs. On that basis, we have introduced a number of initiatives in security. The new secure rank at Northbridge is under construction. We have announced $8 million to ensure Western Australians taxis are fitted with the safest cameras in Australia to protect drivers and passengers. We are looking at introducing on-road security patrols linked to duress alarms to provide more security for drivers. To improve standards, two more compliance vehicles are on the roads on Friday and Saturday nights when 40 per cent of all trips are taken in taxis. We are reviewing training standards and working with the industry to implement a demerit-points system. A very interesting point of difference on availability is emerging between the government and the opposition. My view is that there are not enough cabs on the roads in Western Australia. That leads to a lot of frustration for people when they attempt to either hail a cab or book a cab. We use a measure called “jobs not covered”. At the moment, the jobs not covered figure is much higher than we think it should be if it were to correspond to an effective realistic level of service. Mr R.H. Cook : What is the level now? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The level now is 2.9 per cent in the peak period and 1.08 per cent in the off-peak period. Our standards are 0.5 per cent in the off-peak period and one per cent in the peak period, so clearly those standards are not being met and we need to take action. The action is pretty simple: we have introduced regulations into this place to free up potentially 300 additional taxi plates. We will then introduce those to the market in a staggered way to make sure that jobs not covered figure is driven down and taxi standards are improved. I think it is pretty obvious. Interestingly, on top of that, taxi demand last year grew by 10 per cent. Mr Speaker, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the radio news this morning and I discovered perhaps the only person in Western Australia who thinks we should restrict the number of cabs on the road. The only person in Western Australia who thinks we should have—aside from members of the taxi industry, I should say! They do have a slight vested interest; only a slight vested interest in restricting assets. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
I thank the member for Mount Lawley very much for the question. As I have said a number of times in this house and elsewhere publicly, there are three fundamental issues with taxis—availability, security and standards. That basically means people need to get a cab when they want one; drivers should know where to take their passengers; and both passengers and drivers should enjoy a safe environment in the cabs. On that basis, we have introduced a number of initiatives in security. The new secure rank at Northbridge is under construction. We have announced $8 million to ensure Western Australians taxis are fitted with the safest cameras in Australia to protect drivers and passengers. We are looking at introducing on-road security patrols linked to duress alarms to provide more security for drivers. To improve standards, two more compliance vehicles are on the roads on Friday and Saturday nights when 40 per cent of all trips are taken in taxis. We are reviewing training standards and working with the industry to implement a demerit-points system. A very interesting point of difference on availability is emerging between the government and the opposition. My view is that there are not enough cabs on the roads in Western Australia. That leads to a lot of frustration for people when they attempt to either hail a cab or book a cab. We use a measure called “jobs not covered”. At the moment, the jobs not covered figure is much higher than we think it should be if it were to correspond to an effective realistic level of service. Mr R.H. Cook : What is the level now? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The level now is 2.9 per cent in the peak period and 1.08 per cent in the off-peak period. Our standards are 0.5 per cent in the off-peak period and one per cent in the peak period, so clearly those standards are not being met and we need to take action. The action is pretty simple: we have introduced regulations into this place to free up potentially 300 additional taxi plates. We will then introduce those to the market in a staggered way to make sure that jobs not covered figure is driven down and taxi standards are improved. I think it is pretty obvious. Interestingly, on top of that, taxi demand last year grew by 10 per cent. Mr Speaker, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the radio news this morning and I discovered perhaps the only person in Western Australia who thinks we should restrict the number of cabs on the road. The only person in Western Australia who thinks we should have—aside from members of the taxi industry, I should say! They do have a slight vested interest; only a slight vested interest in restricting assets. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr R.H. Cook : What is the level now? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The level now is 2.9 per cent in the peak period and 1.08 per cent in the off-peak period. Our standards are 0.5 per cent in the off-peak period and one per cent in the peak period, so clearly those standards are not being met and we need to take action. The action is pretty simple: we have introduced regulations into this place to free up potentially 300 additional taxi plates. We will then introduce those to the market in a staggered way to make sure that jobs not covered figure is driven down and taxi standards are improved. I think it is pretty obvious. Interestingly, on top of that, taxi demand last year grew by 10 per cent. Mr Speaker, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the radio news this morning and I discovered perhaps the only person in Western Australia who thinks we should restrict the number of cabs on the road. The only person in Western Australia who thinks we should have—aside from members of the taxi industry, I should say! They do have a slight vested interest; only a slight vested interest in restricting assets. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The level now is 2.9 per cent in the peak period and 1.08 per cent in the off-peak period. Our standards are 0.5 per cent in the off-peak period and one per cent in the peak period, so clearly those standards are not being met and we need to take action. The action is pretty simple: we have introduced regulations into this place to free up potentially 300 additional taxi plates. We will then introduce those to the market in a staggered way to make sure that jobs not covered figure is driven down and taxi standards are improved. I think it is pretty obvious. Interestingly, on top of that, taxi demand last year grew by 10 per cent. Mr Speaker, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the radio news this morning and I discovered perhaps the only person in Western Australia who thinks we should restrict the number of cabs on the road. The only person in Western Australia who thinks we should have—aside from members of the taxi industry, I should say! They do have a slight vested interest; only a slight vested interest in restricting assets. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I thank the member for Mount Lawley very much for the question. As I have said a number of times in this house and elsewhere publicly, there are three fundamental issues with taxis—availability, security and standards. That basically means people need to get a cab when they want one; drivers should know where to take their passengers; and both passengers and drivers should enjoy a safe environment in the cabs. On that basis, we have introduced a number of initiatives in security. The new secure rank at Northbridge is under construction. We have announced $8 million to ensure Western Australians taxis are fitted with the safest cameras in Australia to protect drivers and passengers. We are looking at introducing on-road security patrols linked to duress alarms to provide more security for drivers. To improve standards, two more compliance vehicles are on the roads on Friday and Saturday nights when 40 per cent of all trips are taken in taxis. We are reviewing training standards and working with the industry to implement a demerit-points system. A very interesting point of difference on availability is emerging between the government and the opposition. My view is that there are not enough cabs on the roads in Western Australia. That leads to a lot of frustration for people when they attempt to either hail a cab or book a cab. We use a measure called “jobs not covered”. At the moment, the jobs not covered figure is much higher than we think it should be if it were to correspond to an effective realistic level of service. Mr R.H. Cook : What is the level now? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The level now is 2.9 per cent in the peak period and 1.08 per cent in the off-peak period. Our standards are 0.5 per cent in the off-peak period and one per cent in the peak period, so clearly those standards are not being met and we need to take action. The action is pretty simple: we have introduced regulations into this place to free up potentially 300 additional taxi plates. We will then introduce those to the market in a staggered way to make sure that jobs not covered figure is driven down and taxi standards are improved. I think it is pretty obvious. Interestingly, on top of that, taxi demand last year grew by 10 per cent. Mr Speaker, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the radio news this morning and I discovered perhaps the only person in Western Australia who thinks we should restrict the number of cabs on the road. The only person in Western Australia who thinks we should have—aside from members of the taxi industry, I should say! They do have a slight vested interest; only a slight vested interest in restricting assets. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
I thank the member for Mount Lawley very much for the question. As I have said a number of times in this house and elsewhere publicly, there are three fundamental issues with taxis—availability, security and standards. That basically means people need to get a cab when they want one; drivers should know where to take their passengers; and both passengers and drivers should enjoy a safe environment in the cabs. On that basis, we have introduced a number of initiatives in security. The new secure rank at Northbridge is under construction. We have announced $8 million to ensure Western Australians taxis are fitted with the safest cameras in Australia to protect drivers and passengers. We are looking at introducing on-road security patrols linked to duress alarms to provide more security for drivers. To improve standards, two more compliance vehicles are on the roads on Friday and Saturday nights when 40 per cent of all trips are taken in taxis. We are reviewing training standards and working with the industry to implement a demerit-points system. A very interesting point of difference on availability is emerging between the government and the opposition. My view is that there are not enough cabs on the roads in Western Australia. That leads to a lot of frustration for people when they attempt to either hail a cab or book a cab. We use a measure called “jobs not covered”. At the moment, the jobs not covered figure is much higher than we think it should be if it were to correspond to an effective realistic level of service. Mr R.H. Cook : What is the level now? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The level now is 2.9 per cent in the peak period and 1.08 per cent in the off-peak period. Our standards are 0.5 per cent in the off-peak period and one per cent in the peak period, so clearly those standards are not being met and we need to take action. The action is pretty simple: we have introduced regulations into this place to free up potentially 300 additional taxi plates. We will then introduce those to the market in a staggered way to make sure that jobs not covered figure is driven down and taxi standards are improved. I think it is pretty obvious. Interestingly, on top of that, taxi demand last year grew by 10 per cent. Mr Speaker, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the radio news this morning and I discovered perhaps the only person in Western Australia who thinks we should restrict the number of cabs on the road. The only person in Western Australia who thinks we should have—aside from members of the taxi industry, I should say! They do have a slight vested interest; only a slight vested interest in restricting assets. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr R.H. Cook : What is the level now? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The level now is 2.9 per cent in the peak period and 1.08 per cent in the off-peak period. Our standards are 0.5 per cent in the off-peak period and one per cent in the peak period, so clearly those standards are not being met and we need to take action. The action is pretty simple: we have introduced regulations into this place to free up potentially 300 additional taxi plates. We will then introduce those to the market in a staggered way to make sure that jobs not covered figure is driven down and taxi standards are improved. I think it is pretty obvious. Interestingly, on top of that, taxi demand last year grew by 10 per cent. Mr Speaker, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the radio news this morning and I discovered perhaps the only person in Western Australia who thinks we should restrict the number of cabs on the road. The only person in Western Australia who thinks we should have—aside from members of the taxi industry, I should say! They do have a slight vested interest; only a slight vested interest in restricting assets. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The level now is 2.9 per cent in the peak period and 1.08 per cent in the off-peak period. Our standards are 0.5 per cent in the off-peak period and one per cent in the peak period, so clearly those standards are not being met and we need to take action. The action is pretty simple: we have introduced regulations into this place to free up potentially 300 additional taxi plates. We will then introduce those to the market in a staggered way to make sure that jobs not covered figure is driven down and taxi standards are improved. I think it is pretty obvious. Interestingly, on top of that, taxi demand last year grew by 10 per cent. Mr Speaker, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the radio news this morning and I discovered perhaps the only person in Western Australia who thinks we should restrict the number of cabs on the road. The only person in Western Australia who thinks we should have—aside from members of the taxi industry, I should say! They do have a slight vested interest; only a slight vested interest in restricting assets. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The only other person who opposes more taxis on the streets is the shadow Minister for Transport. I nearly fell over! I would have choked on my Weeties but I have moved on from Weeties. I could not believe that he was out there advocating that we should not put more taxis on the road. I am interested to know if that is the Leader of the Opposition’s policy position. Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr E.S. Ripper : Bring on the debate and we will have a good debate about taxi policy. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : He mentioned on the radio that the opposition was going to introduce a disallowance motion into this house. I have not seen it yet, but I am sure that the opposition will be true to its word; I am sure that that will happen. So here we have a government that wants to put more taxis on the road. Why would we want to put more taxis on the road? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
The SPEAKER : Member for Cannington! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : To provide a better level of service to the travelling public of Western Australia. Why would the opposition not want to put more taxis on the road? I have not got a clue. We now have—he was on that topic again this morning, and I thank the member for Murray–Wellington for raising it—the second great plank of the Labor Party’s strategy for taxis; first, do not put any more on the road and, second, all those that are on the road, make sure we paint them gold. I have a term I like to use to describe that member for the North Metropolitan Region, Hon Ken Travers — Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have a term for Hon Ken Travers from the other place, but I am prohibited from using that term, so I will not. But I got a shock on the weekend when I was looking through some old film classics and I spotted a person who he reminded me of. It was that famous German actor Gert Fröbe. Mr Speaker, you may have heard of Gert Fröbe. He has an uncanny resemblance to the member for the North Metropolitan Region. I was shocked to discover that that Gert was the person who played Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond classic of the same name— Goldfinger . So here we have the real-life Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger wanting to plunder Fort Knox and here we have Western Australia’s version of Gert Fröbe wanting to paint our taxis gold! There is a very common theme being woven by Hon Ken Travers. So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
So let us conclude: what is our strategy? Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr R.H. Cook : What is your strategy? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : What is our strategy in relation to taxis? Safer vehicles, better standards and, funnily enough, more cabs on the road. What is the opposition’s? Restrict the number of cabs and paint them gold. Why? So when they drive past and they are full of people and members opposite cannot get in one, they know damn well they have missed the cab!
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