Media Release
November 27, 2020

As the year draws to a close, venues will be quickly booking up with work functions and celebrations aplenty. With the ‘silly season’ just around the corner, the taxi industry is getting ready for its busiest time of the year and its peak body, the Taxi Council of Queensland (TCQ), is issuing a timely reminder for party-goers to prioritise safety when planning their journeys to and from festivities.

TCQ CEO, Blair Davies, says grabbing a cab takes the hassle out of finding and paying for parking and removes the need for anyone to draw the short straw of designated driver. Taxis are more than just a convenient choice, it’s the extra level of safety taxis provide to passengers that makes them the obvious option when heading home after a big night out.

“As always, our drivers will be working around the clock to shuttle passengers across Queensland as social calendars start filling up – but we can’t stress enough how important it is to keep safety a priority during a period where people are in a ‘festive’ state of mind.

“Taxis are easily the safest way for the public to get from A to B because they are all fitted with high-quality security camera systems and hardwired GPS tracking, safety features that ride-share vehicles typically never have.

“When you get into a taxi, it’s clearly identifiable as a vehicle accredited to provide a public transport service. It’s quite a different level of safety to jumping into a stranger’s private car, which may or may not be the one that’s been booked through an online platform,” says Mr Davies.

Mr Davies says while taxis are ready to service all Queenslanders during this busy time of year, they could always use a few extra hands at the wheel.

“Queenslanders are entitled to let their hair down after what has been an especially trying year, but it’s important to plan your journeys ahead of time as demand for taxis peaks and the roads get incredibly busy. As demand for taxis picks up during the festive season, it’s a great time to join the industry – or perhaps to swap over to taxis, for anyone who’s been a ride-share driver.

“Anyone looking for a change in career would be very welcome to try their hand at driving for a couple of shifts or more in a cab. Taxis are not just safer for passengers – they’re also a safer option for drivers as well.

“We know it’s been a tough year for everyone in the personalised transport sector and ride-share drivers have experienced probably the worst of it as passengers started factoring in the cleanliness of private cars versus commercially sanitised public vehicles such as taxis. It’s yet another reason for anyone thinking about driving, to consider joining our ranks and become a Queensland cabbie.”

Mr Davies also says the onus for safety this Christmas is not just on transport providers, but is also on the public, issuing a reminder for everyone to follow road safety rules and make smart choices.

“It seems a silly thing to remind people of, but remember to look both ways when crossing the street; always wear your seatbelt when travelling in a car; and don’t get behind the wheel if you’ve had one too many end-of-year beverages – that’s the time to grab a cab!”

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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

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31/07/2020

Over the last four (4) months Taxi Council of Queensland (TCQ), together with the Australian Taxi Industry Association (ATIA) have successfully lobbied for the inclusion of the taxi industry in a number of financial assistance packages being paid by the Federal and State Governments, associated with the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initially, this effort involved ensuring that sole traders, as well as partnerships and trusts, were eligible for the Federal Government’s JobKeeper assistance package. The ATIA, through our CEO Blair Davies joined with a number of other like-minded peak bodies to lobby the Federal Government to ensure small business owners were eligible for the financial assistance. With the Federal Government ultimately accepting the principle being advocated, the ATIA then worked with the ATO to determine how and when taxi drivers, operators and licence owners could qualify for the JobKeeper package. Pleasingly, much of the Australian taxi industry has been able to enrol for JobKeeper using the guidance and assistance of ATIA.

An important aspect of this scheme is that as small business owners, taxi drivers and operators have been able to continue providing transportation services for their local communities, even when it wasn’t really viable to do so. Being able to access the Federal Government’s support has been crucial for keeping taxis on the road and ensuring our local communities did not go without an essential service, critical to the wellbeing of so many Australians.

Concurrent with the effort to secure access to JobKeeper for most of the Australian taxi industry, the TCQ was lobbying the State Government to provide funding assistance to members so that the Queensland taxi industry would be in good shape to support economic recovery in their communities. The hard work that went into that lobbying proved very successful. On 16 June 2020, Premier Palaszczuk announced the COVID-19 Unite and Recover Financial Assistance Package for the taxi and limousine industries. The $23 million stimulus package includes:

· One-off payments of $3,500 per vehicle to taxi operators.

· One-off payments of $1,000 per licence to taxi licence holders.

· One-off payments of $1,500 per affiliated taxi (up to a maximum of 1,000 taxis) to booking services predominantly dispatching taxis

· One-off incentive payments of an additional $1,000 per vehicle for Wheelchair Accessible Taxi (WAT) operators.

To access the $23 million funding, members will need to lodge an application through the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA). TCQ has been advised that the applications process will open in early August 2020.

The Queensland Government’s assistance package to the Queensland taxi industry is the biggest of any State in overall size and on a per taxi basis. It represents a fantastic result for TCQ members.

It was particularly gratifying that Transport and Main Roads Minister, Hon Mark Bailey, specifically and exclusively thanked our CEO Blair Davies and the TCQ for our efforts in helping to formulate and structure the package. The funding also builds on the previously announced $54.5 million Essential Transport Services Package released in April 2020. This package also resulted from the TCQ’s advocacy that was undertaken at the start of the lockdown period and included:

· Extending existing booked hire/taxi driver authorisations and taxi licences for six months.

· A further waiver of the annual Taxi Industry Security Levy in 2019/20.

· Extending all existing booking entity authorisations for six months.

· Waiving fees for operators to de-register and re-register their vehicles

These packages come on top of the announced $21 million Wheelchair Accessible Taxi (WAT) Grant Scheme, which is enabling WAT operators to receive a government grant of up to $45,000.00 to assist in the replacement of WAT vehicles. Yet again, this package resulted from the sustained and strategic advocacy efforts of the TCQ. This scheme is now in its third round of grants and it is hoped that WAT operators will take advantage of this scheme to modernise the Queensland WAT fleet.

Clearly, the advocacy of both the TCQ and the ATIA has successfully delivered substantial outcomes for all facets of the Queensland taxi industry, and more broadly the Australian taxi community. It is essential that the taxi industry remains strong and united, so that over time we can emerge from the difficulties we have had to confront over the past 6 years.

Media release
10 July 2020 

The Taxi Council of Queensland (TCQ) has congratulated the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) and the Federal Government on launching the Go Local First campaign, encouraging the Australian community to support their local small businesses.

The Australian taxi industry comprises over 70,000 small businesses, providing essential transportation services to their local communities.  The taxi industry is represented on COSBOA by its national peak body, the Australian Taxi Industry Association (ATIA).  TCQ is a member of the ATIA.

“Like many other industries comprised of small businesses, the taxi industry has been doing it very tough during the COVID-19 pandemic.  As small businesses, our members just don’t have the endless reserves of money behind them to wait out the pandemic.  We definitely need communities across Queensland to take on board the message behind the Go Local First campaign, and to use their local taxi service when needing to travel from A to B,” said TCQ CEO, Blair Davies.

“COSBOA’s campaign is a timely one.  The closing of Australia’s borders has proved a very useful reminder of how valuable a level of self-sufficiency can be and how important local business providers are in that regard.   Buying a ‘cheap’ product or service online or from an overseas platform may come at a surprisingly high cost, if it ends up putting your local small business operator out of business,” said Mr Davies.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the importance of buying locally into much better focus.  In the personalised transport sector, we saw regular taxi services continue to make themselves available for hire, even during the times of greatest restrictions on movement and gatherings.  It probably wasn’t viable to be on the road at the time but our cabbies’ commitment to serve their local communities made sure that services remained available to everyone that needed them.”

“As Queensland emerges from the pandemic, and more and more of our fair weather friends in the other segments of the personalised transport sector return onto the road to offer services, there is a clear choice for consumers as to which service to support.  We simply ask the community to remember to Go Local First when making those buying decisions,” said Mr Davies.

Queensland’s cabbies proudly remained on call 24/7 during the height of the COVID-19 crisis and they continue to stand ready to provide safe and reliable transport for their local communities now in the emerging recovery.

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Media release
16 June 2020

The Taxi Council of Queensland (TCQ) has welcomed the Palaszczuk Government’s announce- ment of a $23 million package to help Queensland taxi operators and licence owners recover from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

TCQ reached out to the Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Hon Mark Bailey, about the desperate plight of industry members as demand for taxi services plummeted by 70 and 80 per- cent due to restrictions on business and leisure travel aimed at containing possible transmission of coronavirus within the community. Pleasingly, Premier Palaszczuk and Minister Bailey heard TCQ’s message loud and clear that everyone in the industry had been affected, suffering severe economic loss.

TCQ CEO Blair Davies said it was great to see the State Government and the taxi industry working together now on re-booting the Queensland economy as the COVID-19 threat appears to have been contained. Taxis have a vital role to play in Queensland’s economic recovery and are ready to do so.

“It has been a very tough few months for the Queensland taxi industry, but we have a proud his- tory of working with Government and the community in times of crisis and natural disaster.

Along with many other industries, we have been brought to our knees by COVID-19 but it is now time to start standing back up and get going again. The Government’s assistance package will be a well-timed tonic to help our members do just that,” said Mr Davies.

The $23 million unite and recover package includes:

• one-off payments of $3,500 per vehicle to taxi and limousine operators;
• one-off payments of $1,000 per licence to taxi and limousine licence holders;
• one-off payments of $1,500 to authorised booking entities for each affiliated taxi/limou- sine, capped at 1,000 vehicles and for entities that provide booking services predomi- nantly for taxis and/or limousines;
• one-off incentive payments of an additional $1,000 per vehicle for Wheelchair Accessible Taxi (WATs)

As an essential service for communities across the State it simply was never an option for taxis not to remain available for those who want and need them. Queensland’s cabbies remained on call 24/7 during the height of the COVID-19 crisis and they continue to stand ready to provide safe and reliable transport for their local communities now in the emerging recovery.

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