Yesterday the NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced that there will be further compensation for plate owners in the taxi industry. This is a very long time coming and Rod Barton MP is pleased to see this outcome realised.
NSW taxi plate owners had previously only been given token income assistance for the illegal entry of Uber into the market.
Barton hopes that the details of this package will be announced shortly. NSW taxi plate owners have been waiting for 7 years for a resolution, they deserve this compensation now.
Barton would like to congratulate the NSW taxi council for their advocacy and the NSW Transport Minister for listening to and acknowledging the experiences of the industry.
Here in Victoria, we have also been looking at further transition payments.
The Premier has given Barton every opportunity to mount a case and prove the facts of the matter. Barton speaks with direct knowledge of the industry.
No stone has been left unturned.
Discussions with the Government have been carried out professionally and in good faith. It is now time for the Government to make a decision.
In Victoria, Governments encouraged families to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase taxi licences in a market they regulated, then took them away and gave them a fraction of the value.
Families lost their homes. They lost their superannuation. People took their lives.
NSW’s further package recognises the extent of financial suffering experienced by plate owners. Barton only asks the Victorian Government to recognise the same here in Victoria.
The ball is in the Premier’s court.
Quotes attributable to Member for Eastern Metropolitan and the Leader of the Transport Matters Party Rod Barton MP:
“As the details of this NSW package are released, Victorian taxi families will absolutely be looking to their government to right this wrong.”
“This NSW compensation package is an example of what can be achieved when an industry works together. Victorian licence holders have a lot to learn.”
“There is no question, Victorian taxi drivers have been treated unfairly. Plate owners remain burdened by legacy debts for assets that no longer exist. They deserve fair and proper transition payments.”
