Media release
August 30, 2019
The State Government’s recent announcement making the last $350,000 of its $100 million assistance package available as Business Support Grants to taxi and limousine licence holders looks too little, too late says Queensland’s peak taxi body.
The Business Support Grants will enable licence holders to access up to $5,000 as individuals or up to $20,000 as a group in matched funding to implement business improvement initiatives, or up to $5,000 in unmatched funding to seek financial advocacy support.
The Taxi Council of Queensland (TCQ) says with almost 3,000 taxi and limousine license owners in Queensland, the $350,000 will not go very far, possibly benefiting just 70 or so licence owners, a mere 2 percent of the industry.
“Quite frankly, these grants won’t do anything to get the industry back on its feet or redress the unfairness that licence owners have experienced. To put the grants program in perspective, we have taxi licence holders who have lost more value on a single licence than the whole of the funding pool being made available,” said Mr Davies.
“If the Government really wants to help the industry, it needs to urgently address the uneven playing field in areas like Compulsory Third Party (CTP) and by putting a cap on the number of booked-hire vehicle licences.”
However, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, TCQ has been investigating ways in which taxi licence owners may be able to put a Business Support Grant to good purpose.
“For TCQ members confronting difficulties with creditors, we would encourage them to apply for a grant to cover the fees of a reputable, specialist adviser. Negotiating debt forgiveness, holidays, and re-arrangements requires specialist skills, as well as serious amounts of acumen and clout. We would urge members to look for help from genuine experts with impressive and successful track records, rather than pretenders from other fields,” continued Mr Davies.
For members interested in finding a specialist adviser to assist with an application for a Business Support Grant, please contact the TCQ office on 3434 2100 or via admin@tcq.org.au.
Alternatively, members may wish to contact an expert provider directly, such as MyBudget. TCQ’s contact person at MyBudget is Alex Hender on (08) 8215 7616 or via alexh@mybudget.com.au.
Details of the Business Support Grant program can be found at www.qrida.qld.gov.au.
ENDS