DRIVING THE REVIEW PROCESS

Over the past twelve months, the Queensland Government has been reviewing several aspects of the Queensland Taxi Industry.  It is worth remembering that this is the same industry that has been lauded by successive State Premiers, Transport Ministers and others over many years as being, 'the best in Australia'.

During this time, we have seen the development of a Taxi Drivers Standards Review; the appointment of TIAC (Taxi Industry Advisory Committee) to oversee the development of a Taxi Industry Strategic Plan as well as the Workplace Rights Ombudsman's Inquiry.

It is unfortunate that the catalyst for these reviews seems to stem from the grumblings of a few individuals with an ability to utilise the media, the Transport Minister?s office and the Workplace Ombudsman.  It is clear that the foundations for each of these reviews have been based upon a fairly narrow but consistent commentary purporting that, "the Queensland Taxi Industry is in a state of ruin". Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is clear to objective observers that the protagonists of our industry have a limited working knowledge of the day-by-day operations required to deliver reliable public transport to over 90 million passengers a year.  To do this requires the dedication of a wide variety of people who commit their working lives to ensuring we deliver a well accepted, world class demand-responsive service.  This includes our drivers, our taxi operators, our call centre and administrative staff members, our colleagues at Queensland Transport and many others.

If a small number of critics are looking for a, "big bang theory", in order to bring about change, they should consider re-focusing their attention.  The Queensland Taxi Industry welcomes the review and is committed to on-going improvement. However, the process to achieve this needs to be undertaken in a manner that produces positive results for all stakeholders, including our passengers, our drivers, our staff and our taxi operators.

Change for the sake of change is a shallow and debilitating process and one that is unlikely to be automatically adopted by Minister Nolan. The Minister's ability to analyse the "whole picture" in the interests of the travelling public and industry stakeholders will help ensure the continued success of our great Industry.