Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches

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COMMERCIAL PASSENGER (ROAD) TRANSPORT AMENDMENT BILL 2003

Madam Speaker, I move that the bills be now read a second time.

The purpose of this bill is to amend the Commercial Passenger (Road) Transport Act to implement the second stage of the reforms which my government is implementing for the taxi, minibus and private hire car industries in the Northern Territory.

You are aware of the first stage of the reforms, and that the second stage of reforms was to follow to complete the full package for the commercial passenger vehicle industry. As I have said on numerous occasions, when this government came to power we found the commercial passenger vehicle industry in some disarray. While the previous government’s action in removing numbers control on licences had meant that there were sufficient vehicles to meet public demand, the industry itself was suffering from poor returns and poorly trained and motivated drivers. The community was suffering from poor driver standards which, on occasion, challenged the perception that taking a taxi or minibus was a safe way to travel.

This government decided, before we addressed this issues, that we wanted to find out what the industry and the community wanted from the commercial passenger vehicle industry. Also, we needed to find out what could be realistically achieved. To that end, we put in place a temporary cap on taxi, minibus and private hire car numbers from 26 November 2001 to provide some stability in the industry while a full review was undertaken.

Terms of reference for the review were established and advertisements seeking comment were placed in all Northern Territory newspapers. In addition, I met personally with a diverse range of industry representative groups and individuals. I reject any notion that these changes were made in isolation from the industry. In fact, I was at one stage perceived, and I was receiving criticism, that our consultation process was too long, too involved and included too many people. What became clear from these discussions and submissions was that the industry was in serious trouble. In addition to industry comment, submissions were also received from the tourism, restaurant and accommodation industries and consumer groups such as the Integrated Disability Action Group and an Aboriginal organisation.

In May 2002, I issued a discussion paper following extensive work by my office and department. Copies of the discussion paper were sent to all stakeholders, including those who had previously made submissions. This generated another, and perhaps even more extensive, series of discussions, with the result being a further 40 submissions. Following the consultation and after extensive consideration of all the options, government decided to implement a number of recommendations. These were made public in the form of Fact Sheets which can be viewed on my department’s web site if anyone has not already seen them.

The second stage of the implementation of these recommendations is contained in this bill. The bill provides for those measures, the ones to come and the ones we have in place, by July 2003.

I would like to draw your attention to the following key areas, which this bill addresses. First, it settles into place the creation of the new commercial passenger vehicle categories: the limousine; the special function vehicle; and the courtesy vehicle. The creation of a executive taxi category was undertaken in the first stage of reforms and those operators in the private hire car industry can now choose the appropriate category that best fits their operation. The industry will have a clear delineation between different types. For too long the lines of demarcation between each sector has been blurred. Now taxis will operate as taxis; minibuses will operate as minibuses; private hire cars will be either executive taxis, if they wish to ply for hire; or they will become limousines. The existing private hire category will be abolished on 1 July 2003 and the $10 000 entitlement fee will be refunded to its private hire car entitlement holder.

Other changes brought in by this second stage of legislation are: the ability for taxis and minibuses to park or stand at bus stops in urban areas outside road service area and hours; exemption provisions to allow the [inaudible] approved vehicles that can seat up to 15 passengers as standard or executive taxis; the ability to set fares and charge for limousines, if necessary, to further ensure a level playing field can be maintained; the abolition of supplementary taxi licence provisions obviously are no longer necessary. The inclusion of dispatch networks, codes of conduct and consequential amendments to other legislation is also addressed.

The Director has the power to provide for regional variation in many of these matters under this proposed legislation, and at all times the board will be expected to provide direct advice to me if there are systems set in place which need refining. We believe that this bill and the one preceding it will deliver substantial improvements to the commercial passenger vehicle industry in the Northern Territory.

Madam Speaker, this initiative will allow the industry to progress and mature to provide safe and efficient commercial passenger transport for all Territorians and visitors alike, with standards of service second to none. I commend this bill to the honourable members.






 

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