‘There is no future’: Victorian taxi drivers wiped out by rideshare reforms

LEO Mauro worked for nearly 60 years to build up his business and life savings, only to have it wiped out with a flick of the pen.

Leo Mauro has built up his taxi business over 57 years.

WHEN Leo Mauro first moved to Melbourne from Italy in the 1960s, he was offered a deal by a neighbour who had decided to return to his native Israel.

The man was offering to sell his taxi licence for $12,000 — about $150,000 in today’s dollars — and his house, a few doors down from Mr Mauro, also for $12,000.

Today that house is worth $1.8 million. The taxi is worth nothing.

“I know two people who have committed suicide,” said the Melbourne taxi driver, who celebrated his 84th birthday this week. “Another one tried. I had a heart attack on the steps of Parliament House. Daniel Andrews is a backstabber, he’s a dog. We are controlled by parasites.”

Mr Mauro is one of thousands of taxi drivers and owners across the country who have seen their life savings — or worse, an asset bought with a bank loan — completely wiped out by state and territory governments’ legalisation of Uber.

At their peak, taxi licences were worth $540,000, meaning Mr Mauro’s 11 licences — the last one he purchased 25 years ago — were once worth close to $6 million.

Under a buyback scheme announced last year, the Victorian government has offered licence owners $100,000 for the first licence and $50,000 for up to three additional licences, meaning the most Mr Mauro can be compensated is $250,000.

Mr Mauro with Victorian premier Daniel Andrews.

The outspoken grandfather was one of hundreds of disgruntled taxi drivers who caused chaos in Melbourne earlier this year with a blockade of the Bolte Bridge. It was at that protest, a convoy that continued along Flinders Street and ended at State Parliament, that Mr Mauro suffered a heart attack and was taken away by paramedics.

“We have been decimated because of the government in Victoria,” he said. “[Uber] was never regulated. Uber will not give service to the public, Uber is here to exploit the industry and the public. Once they destroy the taxi industry, they will take over. There will be no competition under a monopoly. There is no future for the customer.”

Mr Mauro, who has been driving taxis for 57 years, is on the verge of shutting up for good. “I’m waiting another nine, 10 days. We’ll have to close,” he said. “There is no money for nobody, no money for taxis. I have five sitting empty. Plenty of people don’t want to drive a taxi, not even an Uber. It’s slavery work.”

For Mr Mauro, it’s not the first time he has been crushed by competition from giant corporations. His Lygon Street butcher was driven out of business by big supermarkets, and a small petrol station he owned was squeezed out by bigger competitors opening up all around.

“This is nothing new to me,” he said. “Uber is not new. We need competition, but what sort of competition? The media gets paid by these multinational corporations, they are manipulating the public — this is exactly what’s happening now with Uber.”

Mr Mauro is particularly angry at Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, who he says “promised everything”.

“The last time I saw him, he put his hand on my back,” he said. “He promised me. He is a liar. Never walk in front of a politician because he will stab you in the back.”

He and thousands of other drivers feel cheated — they bought licences and paid their fees under the system set up by the state government.

“The RTA, the Taxi Commission, you could not put a sticker on the taxi unless they allow you. There is no control,” he said.

“By the time you go to the toilet they already change another rule and regulation. We were run by them. Now all of a sudden, you don’t need them, you don’t need to speak English, nothing, whoever wants to drive a car can drive a car.

“How can you protect the public? There’s no regulation for nobody now. You don’t know who’s picking people up. My daughter was standing on the side of the road looking at her phone, a private car stops and says, ‘Are you looking for an Uber? I can take you.’”

Mr Mauro scoffed at the premier’s recent apology to descendants of Chinese migrants over a “racist” 10 pound tax targeting only Chinese arrivals in Victoria during the 1850s gold rush.

He said “in the next 100 years, they will apologise for what they have done” to his generation.

In addition to the government’s buyback scheme, it also established a $50 million “Fairness Fund” to provide targeted support to those doing it tough as a result of the changes. Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said more than $420 million would go towards supporting the industry.

“We will continue to work closely with and support the industry while we get on with regulating rideshare, and creating fairer, safer and more responsive services for passengers,” she said in February.

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Originally published as ‘There is no future’: Victorian taxi drivers wiped out by rideshare reforms