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Legislative Council 17801 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Wednesday 24 October 2001 ______ The President (The Hon. Dr Meredith Burgmann) took the chair at 11.00 a.m. The President offered the Prayers. DEPUTY GOVERNMENT WHIP The PRESIDENT: I inform the House that on Tuesday 23 October 2001 the Hon. Amanda Fazio was elected to the position of Deputy Government Whip. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Precedence of Business Motion by the Hon. Michael Egan agreed to: That on Thursday 25 October 2001 General Business take precedence of Government Business until 5.00 p.m. WELLINGTON LOCAL ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL Report of Independent Arbiter Motion by the Hon. Richard Jones agreed to: 1. That the report of the Independent Legal Arbiter, Sir Laurence Street, dated 17 October 2001, on the disputed claim of privilege on papers on the Wellington Local Aboriginal Land Council, be laid upon the table by the Clerk. 2. That, on tabling, the report is authorised to be published. STANDING COMMITTEE ON PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE AND ETHICS Reporting Date Motion by Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile agreed to: That the reporting date for the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics inquiry into the report of General Purpose Standing Committee No. 3 entitled "Special report on possible breaches of privilege arising from the inquiry into Cabramatta policing" be extended to 15 November 2001. STANDING COMMITTEE ON STATE DEVELOPMENT Report The Hon. Tony Kelly, as Chairman, tabled report No. 24 entitled "Genetically Modified Food— Interim Report (Issues Paper)", dated October 2001. Ordered to be printed. The Hon. TONY KELLY [11.07 a.m.]: I move: That the House take note of the report. Debate adjourned on motion by the Hon. Tony Kelly. WELLINGTON LOCAL ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL Return to Order The Clerk tabled the report of the Independent Legal Arbiter, Sir Laurence Street, dated 17 October 2001, on the disputed claim of privilege on papers on the Wellington Local Aboriginal Land Council. 17802 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 24 October 2001 PETITIONS Council Pounds Animal Protection Petition praying that the House introduce legislation to ensure that high standards of care are provided for all animals held in council pounds, received from the Hon. Richard Jones. Circus Animals Petition praying for opposition to the suffering of wild animals and their use in circuses, received from the Hon. Richard Jones. Children in Institutions Petition praying that the House undertake an inquiry into the treatment of all children in institutional care in New South Wales as recommended by the Federal Parliament's August 2001 report into child migration, entitled "Lost Innocents: Righting the Record", received from the Hon. Richard Jones. Wildlife as Pets Petition praying that the House rejects any proposal to legalise the keeping of native wildlife as pets, received from the Hon. Richard Jones. PASSENGER TRANSPORT ACT: DISALLOWANCE OF PASSENGER TRANSPORT (PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLE SERVICES) REGULATION 2001 Debate resumed from 17 October. The Hon. MALCOLM JONES [11.10 a.m.]: I adjourned the debate on the disallowance of the Passenger Transport (Private Hire Vehicle Services) Regulation last Wednesday to enable the Minister for Transport, and Minister for Roads to reconsider the issues relating to the hire car industry and to come up with an appropriate formula or suggestion to assist people who are adversely affected by this regulation. From yesterday's meeting with the Government and from my subsequent discussions with the Minister's staff, the Minister does not wish to address this issue. He has the same attitude to this issue as he had to the M5. I support the disallowance motion. The Hon. PETER BREEN [11.11 a.m.]: I take this opportunity to offer my support to people in the hire car industry who have outlaid substantial amounts of money for their licence plates and now find their investment undermined by the Government. I have always been a supporter of just terms compensation when the Government takes unilateral action against private industry, particularly small business operators. I refer to a letter dated 28 September from Antonio Princi of St. Ives to Minister Carl Scully. He said: I Antonio Princi owner operator just starting out in this new business am seriously affected by this decision. The state Governments decision to halve short term licence fees will reduce value of hire car plates adversely affecting me. I am devastated at this. Mid March I purchased a Hire Car Plate and paid $138000—with stamp duty. I purchased this as an investment. I had to borrow money from the bank and now have a mortgage of $135000—Per month I have to pay $1213—I also purchased a new car costing $50414—on Corporate Hire Purchase and paying $987—per month. Added expense is also petrol costing $800—per month and any other expenses incurred. In a letter dated 21 October Jan and John Edwards of Kenthurst wrote: Why does Mr C Scully and the Labor Party of NSW want to destroy our financial security? We can't get an answer! Perhaps you can help us … If you support the Opposition in their attempts to debate the Disallowance, Mr Scully may be forced to give us his reasons. My reaction to that letter is to say that getting reasons from Minister Scully is like extracting teeth. I asked him about filtration in the cross-city tunnel and he referred me to the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, Andrew Refshauge. Whenever I ask him about filtering the M5 East emission stack he has a conniption. Of all the Ministers in the Carr Government, Minister Scully is the most obstinate in my opinion, and the present 24 October 2001 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 17803 disallowance motion is directly attributable to his obstinacy and his hardline approach to his portfolio. He was supposed to brief the crossbench yesterday on the issue, but he just happened to be out of the State. As if his diary has not been planned months ahead! I am no expert in the car hire business, but from my personal observation the industry appears to be operating quite well. Every weekend I see hire cars in the city—they are a treat. Vintage cars, stretch limousines and old Rolls Royces seem to work happily together. Why does the Government want to upset the apple cart in an industry that operates efficiently? More to the point, why does the Government want to interfere in the market for licence plates? What concerns me most is that the Government will do to the hire car industry what it has done to the taxi industry—namely, flood the market with plates and cause chaos. I am told that the value of a taxi licence has dropped $25,000 since the events in the United States of America on 11 September. As a result, we can expect further pressure on taxi drivers, who already drive like lunatics in my experience. Like taxis, hire cars will become more and more dilapidated as people struggle to recover their investments. The Government needs to talk with the people affected by this regulation. I have also received letters from Glen Kachel of Maroubra, Roy and Helen Easton of Copacabana, Michael Parsons of Hunters Hill, Adel Eldahaby and Salma Ibrahim of Eastlakes, Sammy Dawood of Quakers Hill and many other people—they are too numerous to list. I have also received a submission from the Motor Traders Association, which I understand is the peak body for the car hire industry. These people have substantial investments in their licence plates and many of them will face bankruptcy if the Government acts in the way it has proposed. I urge honourable members to support the disallowance motion. The PRESIDENT: Order! Members wishing to contribute to debate should, at the appropriate time, stand and actually seek the call. Often it is not clear to the Chair, with a number of members walking about the Chamber at any one time, whether those members are rising to seek the call or are simply leaving the Chamber. The Hon. Dr ARTHUR CHESTERFIELD-EVANS [11.16 a.m.]: The Passenger Transport (Private Hire Vehicle Services) Regulation was made under section 63 of the Passenger Transport Act 1990. This debate is about the merits of disallowing this regulation. It goes beyond what is happening in the hire car industry. It is about due process for government dealing with a variety of interests that exist in New South Wales. This regulation implements several recommendations as outlined in the final report of the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal [IPART] into the review of the taxicab and hire car industries. The report argued: … restricting the number of taxi and hire car licences does not appear to generate any significant benefits for passengers, drivers or anyone working in the industries other than the licence owners. It must be acknowledged that cartels of monopolies can exploit their market position and provide no benefit to consumers or the economy as a whole. An increase in the number of hire car licences in Sydney, and other regulatory reforms as proposed in this regulation, would go some way to decrease waiting times during taxi changeover periods, increase transport to and from the airport, and offer a wide variety of transport options to consumers. The principal recommendation made by the IPART report in relation to fees for hire car licences is: Hire car licences should be issued to any person who can satisfy the quality-based entry requirements … all hire car business should operate under the same licence conditions. Further, IPART recommended that the price structure for hire car plates should be: … reduced to an amount which reflects only the sum of administrative and compliance costs associated with the industry.
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