Taxi Licence Buyback Scheme

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:58): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport a question about the taxi licence buyback scheme.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: On 1 July 2025, a taxi licence buyback scheme commenced in our state under the Passenger Transport (Point To Point Transport Services) Amendment Bill 2025. That law left many taxi licence operators seriously shortchanged, with government compensation being far less than what the operators had originally paid for their licences. Further, the extended period for payout means that some operators will take up to eight to 10 years to receive the full amount owing to them.

I have been contacted by a number of desperate licence plate owners, including many struggling seniors in retirement, to say they have not heard a word from the government about accessing these payments and how they will be paid. My questions to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport are:

1. How many taxi licence holders have received compensation payments to date under the buyback scheme?

2. What is delaying the buyback payments?

3. When can licence plate owners expect to receive payments?

4. Is the government accumulating funds first from the levy before making any payments available?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Autism) (14:59): I thank the honourable member for his question. In the first few weeks of being minister in this role, I met with the Taxi Council. I think it was on my second day that I went to their council meeting and had the opportunity to hear directly from them, and I have continued to have multiple meetings with them since that point. This is a lot for this industry. This is a really important industry for our state as well, and I want to thank John and Cheryl and the other council members for sharing their knowledge and experience with me, not only at this meeting but at the meetings that followed.

As many members may recall, obviously we have gone through a process and, as I am advised, the Passenger Transport Act Review was released on 30 August 2024 and outlined the outcomes of the route and branch review of the current passenger transport legislation, both in practice and in law. I am advised the outcomes of the review were informed by feedback from industry, customers and key stakeholders, along with ongoing engagement with the sector. We continue to work through the buyback scheme with the industry. I have made a commitment to them that I will continue to work with them and provide any information that I can along the way.