The peak body for the state’s taxi industry has welcomed the Government’s review of proposed budget cuts to the Taxi Subsidy Scheme (TSS), declaring the industry will continue to stand by their most vulnerable customers.
Chief executive officer of Taxi Council Queensland (TCQ) Benjamin Wash said he believes the Government misread the impact the cuts would make in people’s lives and across the community.
“I said from the outset that I didn’t believe the Government was intentionally being mean-spirited. It is reasonable that they are looking to cut their costs but this is an area where the detrimental effect outweighs the benefits,” he explained.
Mr Wash said TCQ led the charge against these cuts because they understand how important transportation is to those who use the TSS.
“Our customers who are physically, visually and intellectually disabled rely on our drivers to help them get to and from work, school and medical facilities and to live normal, mobile lives that the rest of us take for granted.
“If this transportation is limited it will remove many of these people from the workforce and dump them into the welfare system. It will remove their dignity and means of self-reliance, making the social cost far worse than the current economic cost of continuing the scheme in its current form.”
Mr Wash said the Council’s motivation for bringing this to the attention of the public was to support the disabled community.
“We will continue to see this through until we have a clear outcome, which is a reversal of these cut.”