Media Release
October 23, 2020
The Taxi Council of Queensland (TCQ) is urging all political parties contesting the upcoming election to take a stand on the outrageous inequality in Queensland’s Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance scheme, causing hardworking cabbies to pay premiums massively higher than their counterparts operating ride-sourcing vehicles.
Because of an anomaly in the current CTP scheme, taxi operators pay almost $3,000 a year more per vehicle for CTP than their competitors, despite the respective services being provided, having near identical risk profiles.
It’s an inequity that TCQ CEO, Blair Davies, says carries “no rhyme nor reason” and puts an unnecessary financial burden on Queensland small businesses that local communities rely upon for essential travel services.
About 80 per cent of the Queensland taxi fleet are hybrid sedans or wagons that are affected by the classification anomaly in the CTP scheme. The other 20 per cent are wheelchair accessible vehicles and are allocated to a different CTP class than taxi sedans. Much to the annoyance of disability advocates, none of the ride-sourcing platforms operating in Queensland, or elsewhere in Australia, have any wheelchair accessible vehicles in their fleets (i.e. 0 per cent).
“TCQ is calling on everyone putting themselves up for election to form Government, to make a decision about whether it’s fair and whether it’s reasonable, to have government regulated CTP premiums for taxis at $3,731 per annum while an equivalent ride-sourcing vehicle, backed by billion dollar multi-nationals, gets away with paying just $811 per annum,” says Mr Davies.
“We are seeing small taxi businesses, many of which are simple family businesses, being driven into fi- nancial difficulty, and even bankruptcy, because of excessive cost burdens that their competitors escape through loopholes or special exemptions. CTP premiums are not the only example of excessive costs be- ing born by mum and dad taxi operators, but they are the biggest one and the one that Government could quickly fix.”
“This is a not a cry for a handout or even a help-up. The taxi industry is simply asking whoever makes up the next State Government to prioritise the removal of grossly unfair advantages created by government regulation that favour huge foreign companies over Queensland small businesses. Queensland cabbies can compete with the best in the world, but let us do so on a level playing field and stop tying our hands behind our backs with unfair extra costs.”
“We hear a lot from Governments around the country saying they want to get their economies growing again and acknowledging they need to support local businesses, particularly their local small businesses, to make that happen. Well it’s time to move past the rhetoric and commit to action. Time is up on hoping the CTP inequality might fix itself, it’s not a mirror that needs looking into, it’s a real problem that needs to be fixed as a priority by whoever gets to be the next Queensland Government,” Mr Davies continues.
Within the personalised transport sector, taxis are usually categorised as an essential service. During times of natural disaster or crisis, such as cyclones, floods and bushfires, taxis are typically the last vehicles on the road before conditions become unsafe and some of the first vehicles back on the road helping with the recovery. Mr Davies says this commitment by cabbies to support and service their local communities was again on show this year during COVID-19, even when travel and gathering restrictions made it difficult and uneconomic for taxis to be operating.
“Queensland taxis remained on the road throughout COVID because that’s who we are and what we do. Cabbies are members of their communities and committed to providing them with essential travel services when they need them. Being local small businesses is really what makes us different to ride-sourcing companies and, quite frankly, we’re proud about being local and different,” says Mr Davies.
Mr Davies says the TCQ’s appeal to political parties to commit to fixing anomalies in the CTP scheme carries with it, a message to Queensland voters. “It’s time for communities to value their local businesses, particularly their local small businesses, and to demand the removal of regulatory cost burdens that fall unfairly Queensland businesses. It may not be unreasonable for large companies to leverage economies of scale that they create, but it is completely another matter when the businesses of large foreign multi- nationals are allowed to escape or avoid costs because of unduly favourable treatments by government.
“The Queensland CTP scheme is a disaster for local small business taxi operators and it is well and truly overdue for fixing. No matter who wins the upcoming election, removing the inequity in the CTP scheme for Queensland taxi operators deserves to be one of their top priorities,” says Mr Davies
ENDS