Queensland Uber drivers should be hit with demerit points against their licences because fining them isn’t working, Katter Party MPs say.

Rob Katter says a bill that aims to crack down on the ride-sharing service must be dealt with urgently, after a parliamentary committee decided not to back it.

Mr Katter said Uber was an illegal taxi service in Queensland but was escaping penalty because current laws weren’t being enforced.

He said drivers operating without a taxi licence should be facing demerit point penalties.

“If Uber and the likes were going to pay the fines for their drivers and barrage their way through the laws with money, then we had to look at alternative ways to fix this,” Mr Katter said on Thursday.

The party would move a motion in parliament later on Thursday to have the bill debated by April, he said.
It comes after Queensland Parliament’s Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources Committee said it wouldn’t back the bill.

The committee wasn’t against the bill’s purpose, but was concerned it was highly unlikely demerit points would be recorded on a driver’s history in the short-term.

Uber’s director of public policy, Brad Kitschke, insisted the service wasn’t illegal in Queensland and said drivers weren’t being taken to task over unpaid fines.

“They are not doing anything wrong,” he said.

But the Taxi Council Queensland disagrees and wants the government to urgently act to uphold the law.
“The law is the law, and at the moment we have an uneven playing field,” the council said in a statement.
Queensland’s transport minister, Stirling Hinchliffe insists the government is already cracking down on illegal ride-sharing services like Uber.

The Minister’s comments come after a parliamentary committee this week recommended he take urgent action to ensure the current regulations, which deem Uber to be an illegal taxi service, are enforced.

But Mr Hinchliffe says that’s already happening, denying suggestions the government’s issued a directive for Department of Transport and Main Roads officers to stop fining drivers.

An independent review of Queensland’s taxi plan, which includes ride-sharing services, is not due until August.
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AAP
– See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/qld/2016/03/17/uber-should-be-susceptible-to-demerits–katter.html#sthash.Hjjdms6X.dpuf

Qld minister denies Uber free ride

Queensland’s transport minister insists the government is already cracking down on illegal ride-sharing services like Uber.

Stirling Hinchliffe’s comments come after a parliamentary committee this week recommended he take urgent action to ensure the current regulations, which deem Uber to be an illegal taxi service, are enforced.
But Mr Hinchliffe says that is already happening, denying suggestions the government had issued a directive for Department of Transport and Main Roads officer to stop fining drivers.

“No, there’s been some 17,000 hours of enforcement put in by the department of transport in relation to these regulations,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

“That’s an important thing and I want to see that continue and make sure that we continue to work on how we can enforce our appropriate transport regulations.”

Mr Hinchliffe said some Uber drivers had been fined over the past few days, but conceded that had been due to driving unsafe vehicles, not for operating without a taxi licence.

The Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources Committee’s report found that Uber was using technology to actively avoid transport officers, making enforcement difficult.

The report was looking into a bill that Katter’s Australian Party MP Rob Katter introduced calling for Uber drivers to be issued with demerit points.

The committee didn’t support the bill, arguing Uber’s tactics to avoid punishment would mean it would take too long for the points to appear on drivers’ records.
​Mr Hinchliffe also had reservations about the demerit points plan, given demerit points were only used to punish unsafe road practices, like speeding.

“That’s why the government will have to look at this very seriously and cautiously,” he said.

Despite not having the government’s backing, Mr Katter on Thursday pushed ahead with his bill, arguing demerit points were needed because fines weren’t doing enough to deter Uber.

“If Uber and the likes were going to pay the fines for their drivers and barrage their way through the laws with money, then we had to look at alternative ways to fix this,” he said.
​
Mr Katter on Thursday afternoon successfully moved a motion to fast-track his bill, which means it would now be debated next month.

Uber’s director of public policy, Brad Kitschke, insisted the service wasn’t illegal in Queensland and said drivers weren’t being taken to task over unpaid fines.

“They are not doing anything wrong,” he said.

But the Taxi Council Queensland disagreed, calling for the government to urgently act and uphold the law.

“The law is the law, and at the moment we have an uneven playing field,” the council said in a statement.

The government will release its taxi strategy in August, which will detail how ride-sharing services will fit into the state’s transport landscape.

Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/03/17/14/53/urgent-need-for-uber-crackdown-katter#cVwb3RgUwbrDGGBw.99

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​Interview about Taxi Council calls for mandatory sentencing following ambo attacks.

By AAP, 1:07pm January 27, 2016

Queensland’s taxi lobby is calling for mandatory jail terms for people who assault professional drivers.

The Taxi Council of Queensland’s plea comes after a spate of attacks on paramedics in the state’s southeast.

“Whether it is a taxi driver, police officer, bus driver, paramedic, firefighter, railway employee or anyone who is carrying out their job of transporting or attending to the public, they deserve a level of protection from the law that is currently not there,” chief executive Benjamin Wash said.

Mr Wash said mandatory sentencing would send a strong message to offenders and a warning to others that transport workers should be treated with respect.

“This is their workplace and they are faced with issues most of us will never be faced with in our workplace, so there needs to be special consideration given to their specific roles,” he said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said her government would be open to discussing the idea.

“I’m not aware of those concerns, but my (Transport) Minister Stirling Hinchliffe will be more than happy to sit down with the taxi council about those issues,” she said.

There has been a recent spike in assaults on Queensland paramedics, including three incidents on Sunday alone.

One saw a 21-year-old woman allegedly bash a paramedic in the back of an ambulance after she had earlier passed out in the toilets of a Brisbane hotel.

Interview about Taxi Council calls for mandatory sentencing following ambo attacks

Seven News has gained access to footage of violence in Brisbane, as new figures confirm assaults around taxi ranks in the city’s south-east are out of control.

Taxi Council Queensland has called for more secure ranks to make sure people make it home unharmed.

A video released to Seven News under Right to Information shows a fight between several men and taxi supervisors in January last year.

At a crowded cab rank in Fortitude Valley, it only takes seconds for violence to break out.

What starts as pushing and shoving quickly escalates.

Police are quick to respond but the attackers are not fazed by their presence.

“From what we’ve seen in terms of coward punches and the tragedies that have happened in recent times, we don’t need less secure ranks we need more secure ranks operating more often,” chief executive of Taxi Council Queensland Benjamin Wash said.

There have been 309 assaults around taxi ranks in the Valley and city, over the past three months.

VIDEO: https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/30603047/footage-shows-out-of-control-violence-at-brisbane-taxi-ranks/#pause
​On average, there are about 10 assaults a week at cab ranks in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.

Trauma surgeon Dr Richard Lewandowski said: “For every one person that gets killed certainly fifteen more have brain injuries and I would suggest that hundreds more don’t even make it on to the radar”.

Night chaplains deal with the drunken behaviour first hand.

Night chaplains deal with the drunken behaviour first hand. Photo: 7 News
They do their best to get people home safely but when the night is over, there is a rush to the ranks.

“I think that there is coming a time where we need to just rethink their locations so they are more strategic,” night chaplain Lance Mergard said.

To help control crowds on the weekend, every taxi rank in the Valley is patrolled by security guards and supervisors.

Some, on Wickham Street for example, are even fitted with security cameras being watched by police.

The Taxi Council wants more ranks with more patrols in better locations to ease the violence.

“These things are happening on the street and they’re happening from the venue to the ranks,” said Mr Wash.

To help make the journey home safer, he said, ideally, “there should be a rank outside every major venue and outside where people gather to eat at the end of the night”.

December 14, 2015

Media Release

Short airport taxi fares a thing of the past

The days of a taxi driver waiting in the queue at Brisbane Airport’s Domestic Terminal only to get a fare to the International Terminal – and being disadvantaged because of the ‘luck of the draw’ – is over, thanks to an innovative new scheme successfully being implemented by Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC).

In fact it has worked so well, the working group responsible for the initiative was recently recognised at the annual Taxi Council Queensland (TCQ) Industry Awards.

Brisbane Airport Corporation’s Adam Hazell received the prestigious industry Innovation Award at the recent ceremony in Brisbane and paid tribute to the hard work achieved by the Airport Working Group (AWG) looking in to the short fare system.

“The research between the AWG and taxi drivers who work from the airport was consultative and thorough and we know we have come up with a fairer system for cabbies who take short fare jobs within the precinct which continues to grow.”

The Brisbane Airport precinct implemented a system in which drivers who complete a short fare within a 15 minute time allowance are now allowed to return to the start of the feeder queue at the various ranks outside the terminals, meaning drivers are happier to do the fare knowing they can quickly return and not have to line up again.

The short fare system has also been upgraded to avoid drivers speeding through their jobs, with technologies like real-time distance based clocking and licence plate recognition now being used.

TCQ chief executive officer Benjamin Wash paid tribute to Mr Hazell and the Brisbane Airport team saying the new system and subsequent upgrades have had a major impact on the efficiency of airport taxi operations, dramatically decreasing complaints and improving overall customer safety and service.