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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 8 Hansard (26 October) . . Page.. 2094 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

Yet next week the ACT Government will grant 15 licences to run a taxi, joining 202 others. The 217 licensees together have the exclusive right to run taxis. Anyone else who tries - no matter how safe and competent - does so on pain of gaol or a fine.

He went on to say this:

The Industry Commission estimates that licence fees cause fares to be on average $2.50 higher. The $2.50 is a tax that goes from the consumer to the government through an acquiescent taxi-owner who is happy to be a tax-collector as part of a monopoly arrangement that gives him or her higher profits for less work because there is less competition.

Mr Speaker, this Government is a Liberal government. We believe that competition is a good thing for the consumers of this Territory. Indeed, Mr Speaker, Ms Follett was lecturing us yesterday on how good competition is for consumers; but apparently she does not believe that when it comes to the auctioning of taxi plates.

Mr Hull from the Canberra Times argues that we should be releasing more plates over a period of time, or, as Mr Whitecross put it, flooding the market - to use his words - and bringing down that exorbitant amount we are getting for each taxi plate that we auction. Speaking for myself, I agree with Mr Hull. It is appropriate that we bring down the price that we are getting for each taxi plate. I do not take the approach of the previous Government, which is, basically, to maximise the revenue and bugger the consumer. It is my view that we should be lowering the price of taxi plates - - -

Mr Whitecross: Why do you not just buy back the taxi plates and do the honest thing?

MR HUMPHRIES: That is not what he suggests is a good idea. The money is not there at the moment to do that, partly because of your lot in government over the last four years. Mr Speaker, I think it is a policy that the Government should look at seriously and move towards in the coming years. That, however, is a matter for the Government to consider; I am not announcing Government policy.

Mr Speaker, I think that the Opposition have been completely and utterly unable to substantiate any of the serious claims they have made in this place in the last few days. They have alleged that lower bids were ignored. It turned out that the bid was, in fact, roughly $24,000 higher than the one that we accepted. They have argued that Mr Hird's link with the ACT Government is inappropriate. They have not been able to substantiate a single act of intervention by any member of this Government to assist Mr Hird. That was what they originally alleged, but they have not been able to back it up.

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