TAXIS, COUNTRY

The Hon. C.V. SCHAEFER (14:57): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Transport a question about country taxis.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C.V. SCHAEFER: During recent visits to regional South Australia, I have been approached by several taxi operators who have expressed concern about the delays in proper accreditation as country taxis. My understanding is that this process has continued now for about 2½ years.

The current act requires that all transport operators be accredited, and the Country Taxi Association wants to be accredited as country taxis. Currently, they are labelled as a type of hire car, which precludes them from picking up passengers who hail for a taxi and which also precludes them from having a taxi stand outside a hotel, for instance. At this stage, country taxis are legally expected to operate as hire cars and only respond to telephone bookings.

Although country taxi operators are concerned it may stop doing so, the South Australian government is honouring the Australian Transport Subsidy Scheme vouchers for some passengers. However, recently there have been inordinate delays in the government paying for those vouchers upon redemption. In fact, recently there has been a 12-week delay which, given that these taxis operate on quite narrow margins at any time, has caused some difficulty within the industry. My questions are:

1. Can the minister explain why the accreditation process for country taxis has been so slow?

2. Can the minister explain why his department is taking up to 12 weeks to pay country taxi operators for Transport Subsidy Scheme vouchers?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:59): I will refer the honourable member's question to the Minister for Transport in another place and bring back a reply.