Barnett backs taxi choice
Premier Colin Barnett says the Government needs to change the law to allow the taxi industry to compete with ride-sharing service Uber because “the public want choice”.
In contrast to Transport Minister Dean Nalder, who last month promised taxi drivers more prosecutions of Uber drivers, Mr Barnett yesterday said the public had made it clear it liked the Uber service.
Taxis v Uber: Drivers speak out
“My approach is you move with the change and the public is expressing its wishes,” he told ABC radio.
“There’s a segment of the community that want the type of service that Uber provide.
“I think as Government we’ve got to progressively free up the taxi industry while at the same time ensuring safety, high standards, a fair deal for everyone including drivers.”
Taxi drivers rally outside Parliament House to protest against ride-sharing service Uber. Picture:Bill Hatto / The West Australian
Taxi industries across the world have struggled to match the price of Uber, which doesn’t pay GST or licensing and other fees to dispatch services, Government regulators and insurers, or subject itself to Department of Transport safety checks.
Uber argues its drivers pass company-imposed safety checks including police clearances, and its technology improves accountability by tracking and logging each fare and weeding out bad drivers through negative customer reviews.
Mr Nalder has promised to address the arrival of Uber in a looming green paper into the taxi industry, and Mr Barnett said the minister was facing a dilemma.
“The public are using the services of Uber. They find it probably better for many people and I’ve had many young people, particularly young women say to me why they prefer to use that service and why their parents prefer them to do so,” he said.
“The taxi industry’s got an image problem – no doubt about that, and again it’s an industry where you would hope the degree of government regulation can be progressively reduced and people want choice in the type of taxi service they get. In principle I think they should have choice.
“But at the moment the way the law is written and enshrined, what Uber is doing is breaking the law. So we are caught in the middle here, but I think we would like to see a gradual freeing up of the taxi industry and better standards and higher levels of public confidence in the taxi industry.”
