Parliamentary Speeches
Ballina Hire Car Industry ( 02/04/2008)
Mr DONALD PAGE (Ballina) [11.54 a.m.]: I bring to the attention of the House a situation that threatens the business of a Ballina constituent and the future of the hire car industry in Ballina. I refer to Grahame Taberner, the proprietor of Ballina Lennox Head Hire Car Service, which operates four hire cars in the Ballina-Lennox Head area. He began operations in 1992. Early in 2007 Mr Taberner applied for an additional 10-year licence and was advised that the market value of licences was currently undergoing review and that they were likely to be subject to an open bid process. The open bid did proceed and submissions were required by 1 March 2007. Mr Taberner submitted a bid of $5,000 for a 10-year licence. This was identical to the bid submission he made in 2004, which resulted in a licence fee of $6,000. Mr Taberner believes that his was the only bid received.
On 16 April 2007 Mr Taberner received advice from the Ministry of Transport that the current market value of a 10-year hire car licence was determined to be $17,000 and a 12-month licence to be $3,000. This came as quite a shock to him as the last time he had renewed a 10-year licence, in 2004, the fee had been $6,000. The fee had almost trebled in three years. This massive increase in a 10-year hire car licence, in my view, is unconscionable. Mr Taberner went to a great deal of trouble and expense to make his submission to the open bid process, yet it is clear from the outcome that his submission was ignored. A total of eight hire cars are operating in Ballina under the 10-year licence agreement. All of these operators will be subject to this excessive licence fee increase and, like Mr Taberner, they are extremely concerned about what the cost of renewal will be in five or six years time when their current licences expire.
In an area such as Ballina there is a severe shortage of public transport options. Hire cars are a vital form of transport for many Ballina residents. The service Mr Taberner and his colleagues provide is highly prized and the State Government is wrong to treat the industry with such contempt. If these excessive licence fees are maintained, there will most likely be a reduction in the number of hire cars operating in Ballina. Ballina has a large aged population. The New South Wales State Government's ever-increasing burden on the older generation to undergo stringent medical and driving examinations is forcing many residents to give up their cars and seek other forms of transport—often hire cars. It is not only the older generation who will be affected. Low income and disabled people will also have to face the shortage of transport to do the most basic day-to-day errands such as food shopping, paying bills, visits to medical practitioners, et cetera.
The apparently ad hoc way in which the State Government has increased the licence fee will also cause anyone considering coming into the industry to re-think their decision. At a time when there is an increasing need for private enterprise transport options, due to the lack of public transport, the Government must do more to encourage people into the industry. The licence fee increases it has imposed will only deter potential legitimate operators. Instead, the excessive fee increases are likely to lead to illegal or rogue operators, who are able to undercut legitimate services and who pose a potential risk to the travelling public. Unlicensed operators are under no obligation to maintain their vehicles to an industry standard. The cost of setting up business as a hire car operator is high. While the option of a 12-month licence for $3,000 may be affordable initially, it offers no security for the future of an operator.
It is unreasonable to expect anyone to invest a large amount of money into a business with no guarantee that their licence will be renewed in a year's time or what the fee for that licence is likely to be. If the 10-year licence fee can increase so rapidly over three years from $6,000 to $17,000, then there is certainly no guarantee that the State Government will not impose similar increases on the 12-month licence fee. The impact on the business proprietor is enormous. Small business operators in New South Wales are already struggling under the burden of excessive State taxes and red tape. It is not reasonable to lift a 10-year licence fee from $6,000 to $17,000 almost a threefold increase in just three years. No wonder increasing numbers of people are moving out of New South Wales to other States. To impose these types of price hikes on small business is unconscionable. I call on the Minister for Transport and the State Government to address the excessive licence fee increases for hire car renewals, particularly for 10-year licences, as a matter of urgency.
