MEDIA RELEASE

HON ROBERT BROKENSHIRE MLC

FAMILY FIRST
The Independent Party

 

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CORRUPTION INQUIRY INTO TAXI INDUSTRY FORMED IN PARLIAMENT

 

Thursday 25 March 2009

FAMILY FIRST MLC Robert Brokenshire has last night succeeded in moving for a select committee investigation into claims of fraud and corruption in the taxi industry. 

On the same day that the Opposition moved for an inquiry into the Racing Industry on the back of corruption allegations, Mr Brokenshire said there were similar compelling reasons for investigating fraud, corruption and poor driver training in the Taxi industry.

“I’ve received a lot of representation from people within the taxi industry saying this Inquiry is required”, Mr Brokenshire said, “The taxi industry is of huge importance to South Australian tourism and public transport.  There is just too much happening in the industry that are being swept under the carpet”

“Whilst this Government promised to professionalise the taxi industry, the bottom line is that some good momentum and public scrutiny of the industry from a couple of years ago has all fallen flat and left the industry unreformed”, Mr Brokenshire added.

FAMILY FIRST’s select committee will investigate:

·        passenger safety, especially concerning young women;

·        driver safety, noting numerous bashings and thefts of taxi drivers’ takings;

·        investigating fraud allegations in relation to meter rates imposed by drivers  (for instance charging weekend tariffs on weekdays, abuse of Cabcharge dockets);

·        foreign exploitation of taxi plates as investments without duty of care to industry;

·        allegations of fake taxis taking fares from cab ranks without a taxi licence;

·        country taxis arbitrarily required to operate as private hire vehicles;

·        alleged abuses of the voucher system in country / peri-urban areas;

·        quality of service delivery - ranging from wages paid to drivers, accepting guide dogs on taxis and quality of customer service / tourism friendliness;

·        the appropriateness and cost of the tourism CD required to be played in taxis.

The Select Committee’s members will be Hon Mr Brokenshire, Hon John Darley (Independent) and Hons John Gazzola and Bernard Finnigan (ALP) and Hons Robert Lawson and John Dawkins (Liberal).

STATISTICS

  • at 31 December 2006 (the latest data online) taxis that year carried, in total, 11.55 million passengers.

 

  • 5,302 drivers. I am told that this is more like 6,000 to 7,000 drivers a couple of years later.

 

  • The average price of a taxi licence was $221,400 and there were 1,156 taxis, worth roughly $256 million in capital value (over a quarter of a billion dollars).

 

  • Taxi plates have grown in value in two years from $221,400 to about $350,000 each.  With the figure at 1,150 taxis, that is 1,150 plates, hence the industry's capital value of $404.6 million. I am told that the value of taxi plates will increase again, up to as much as $460,000 in the next two years, so this industry is facing massive investment and expansion in the value of these plates.

 

  • Turnover (gross income) per taxi is approximately $2,400 per week, so the industry has approximately $144.3 million in turnover per annum.

 

  • After costs, a taxi might make $1,100 per week.

 

 

 

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