Greens' Led Inquiry Finds Government Has Failed Taxi Drivers

Today the parliamentary committee inquiring into the impact of the 2016 Point to Point Transport reforms released its findings and recommendations, with the revelation that the government has failed to distribute$100 million of the $250 million industry assistance package funded by the public through the Passenger Service Levy.

The committee has also recommended that the Government develop and implement a buyback scheme of ordinary taxi licences, allowing licence owners who wish to retire to do so, while also releasing capital that can be used to innovate and effectively compete with rideshare.

Abigail Boyd, Chair of the Point to Point Transport inquiry and Greens NSW Spokesperson for Transport & Infrastructure says:

“Throughout the inquiry we heard clearly from taxi drivers and operators that the reforms passed by parliament in 2016 have had a disastrous impact on their livelihoods and failed to create anything like a level playing field with rideshare.

“But despite this, the $250 million industry assistance package remains significantly underspent, with unnecessarily strict conditions being imposed that saw well over half of those applying for assistance turned away.

“It’s obvious that the NSW Government has not only failed to support taxi drivers and operators, but also the public who have been paying the Passenger Service Levy thinking their payment was going towards easing the burden on the taxi industry. Despite knowing that the funding criteria was too strict, the NSW Government did nothing to lower the hurdle and allow the funding to go to where it was so sorely needed. It’s nothing short of disgraceful.

“The NSW Government must now take urgent steps to alleviate the pressures on the taxi industry to ensure its viability, particularly in regional towns which rely on their local taxi networks to maintain a 24/7 transport service.

“The major recommendations from this inquiry are clear: the Government must act now to ensure that the money already collected through the Passenger Service Levy is distributed to those in the taxi industry suffering hardship; and urgently implement a plate buyback scheme to create a more level playing field with the rideshare sector.”

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

NSW is missing out on tens of billions of dollars. By introducing a progressive coal royalty structure similar to the one in Queensland, we would have raised an extra $20 billion last year.

The NSW Government owns and controls, on behalf of the people of this state, the rights to the minerals and materials that naturally occur in NSW land.

Huge fossil fuel companies are only able to extract and sell these commodities with the consent of the State. It’s time they paid a fair price for that privilege.

The fossil fuel industry has made hundreds of billions of dollars out of their cosy relationship with governments. Granted permission to extract and sell coal, these large multinational fossil fuel corporations pay just over 7% in royalties back to the people of NSW – keeping the rest as mega-profits for themselves. These companies have a track record of taking more than their fair share and leaving communities suffering and stranded with poisoned groundwater, devastated landscapes and a stranded workforce when it suits their business models.

Globally, the hyper-inflation of fossil fuel prices driven by price-gouging opportunism and war profiteering from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has delivered record windfall profits to these already obscenely wealthy corporations. In the last year, NSW coal exports totaled over $70 billion dollars, but the people of NSW will only see about 7 cents in every dollar, or about $6 billion dollars of that amount.

Rather than going toward schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, billions of dollars went into the pockets of multinational mining corporations. The Greens believe there should be more money for schools and hospitals and less for mining billionaires.

Sign our petition calling on the NSW Labor Government to increase coal royalties to invest in communities.

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Greens' Led Inquiry Finds Government Has Failed Taxi Drivers

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

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