Taxi man slates transport bill

Press, 12 August 1980, Page 7

Taxi man slates transport bill

PA Whangarei The Urban Transport Bill is contrary to the interests of the users and providers of taxi services and, if enacted, will put the clock back 20 years so far as the taxi industry is concerned, according to the president of the Taxi Proprietors’ Federation (Mr Max Hawthorne). If the bill was accepted, the taxi service would be come subject to the whims of local-body politicians, who had in the past demonstrated their inability to provide an environment which encouraged an ordinary and rational development of taxi services, he told members at the annual conference of the federation at Waitangi.

The federation had made submissions to the Local Bills Committee of Parliament expressing its concern about the proposed legislation, he said. The main problem was that local authorities had different sources of finance and different financial objectives to the taxi industry. “We have to provide a service to obtain revenue: politicians and their servants impose, taxes,” said Mr Hawthorne. “City corporations and other public bodies consider that the deficit arising from operating a service to be the cost of operating. To us and our bank managers it is a loss which, if continued, will lead to, bankrupey.”