The member for Bundaberg and her Labor Government has compromised the safety of passengers by introducing reforms to the taxi industry that will significantly drop industry standards, Member for Burnett Stephen Bennett said today.
The member for Burnett went into bat for passenger safety in state parliament today to ensure safety standards were upheld, following the state government’s deregulation of the taxi industry.
Mr Bennett and the LNP Opposition moved a Disallowance Motion to reverse the Palaszczuk Government’s poor reforms to the state’s taxi industry.
Mr Bennett said the Palaszczuk Labor Government changes included scrapping the age limit of vehicles, dropping requirements for decommissioned taxies to have signage and hail lights removed before sale, and eliminating fines for soiling a cab.
“I’m all for fair playing fields, but this is a serious public safety issue and the safety of passengers should be the number one priority,” he said.
“Public safety is being compromised by the introduction of rushed and poorly thought-out regulations.
“It’s quite concerning that there could be cars driving on our roads that used to be taxies and still look like taxis.”
Mr Bennett said he was also gravely concerned that the Labor Government had sought to remove the maximum vehicle age limit of six years for regular taxies.
“Clearly, the member for Bundaberg and her Labor Government isn’t interested in protecting public safety,” he said.
“It’s disappointing the Labor Government is pushing forward with their plans to put passengers’ safety at risk.”
ENDS.
Tuesday, 13 September 2016