Rideshare Vehicles

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:52): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Treasurer, representing the transport and infrastructure minister, the Hon. Corey Wingard, a question about taxis and rideshare.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: In five years, the number of vehicles in point-to-point transport has increased from 1,000 to 6,000, yet the number of compliance officers appears to have halved. By way of further explanation, I am advised by the Taxi Council that, since rideshare's introduction, over 4,000 complaints against rideshare vehicles illegally standing on taxi ranks were lodged with the department, 2,500 with photographic evidence.

It appears that not one $30,000 fine provided for under the act has been issued. Almost all breaches are just ignored or given an ineffectual warning, although occasionally rideshare operators are fined $180 under the Road Traffic Act if they were private motorists who had inadvertently strayed onto a taxi rank. Non-taxis have been allowed to install meters to give the appearance of being a taxi. Rideshare vehicles were for years allowed to avoid the regulation for chauffeured vehicle numberplates until the department took it upon themselves to change that regulation.

My question to the minister is: has the minister directed, or in any way encouraged, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport to abandon its Passenger Transport Act responsibilities of enforcing the regulations applying to rideshare vehicles and protecting the licences issued by the government to taxi plate owners and operators, or has the department developed its own policy of ignoring those regulations, on the assumption that they have a free hand to do so?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:55): I am happy to refer the honourable member's question to the minister and bring back a reply.