You may love Uber, but why are we ignoring the government’s treatment of taxis?

If Uber wants to buy into our economy, they should pay for the privilege. It’s not acceptable for our government to support this offshore company in favour of local taxis.

The taxi industry has suffered big blows since Uber entered the scene. Has the Australian government done enough to help licence holders? (Pic: Ian Currie)

Ever since the introduction of Uber into Australia, social media has been drowning in rave reviews about how Uber is so awesome, that the drivers are so much nicer than taxi drivers, and it’s so much cheaper.

Glowing comments abound, like: “Uber is safer and taxi drivers are dodgy”, and “once I caught a taxi and the driver did... ” and “how bad are taxis?” and “isn’t it so good now we have Uber?”

If you rely heavily on taxis to get around (and you’re not wealthy), when a service comes along that offers you rides for almost half the price, it makes sense to jump on in.

It is this clinging to Uber to save pennies that has allowed our government to, in a sense, get away with what they’re about to get away with.

Hidden behind glossy words and the offering of millions in compensation to taxi drivers, the government has allowed irreparable damage to our economy and people.

They’ve done this by not only allowing international giant Uber to infiltrate a service which was essentially ours, but in Victoria, it will be taking taxi licenses back from hardworking Australians.

Many are people who have been driving taxis or holding taxi licenses for decades. This isn’t just their bread and butter. It’s their life.

So much for the Great Australian Dream.

Before Uber, each state had a certain number of taxi licenses that were compulsory for anyone wanting to operate a taxi. The government advertised the promise that anyone could be self-funded retirees, that taxi licenses were as safe as houses. Hardworking Australians believed it, paying, from what I’ve been told, up to $500,000 for a licence.

Taxi drivers have taken part in numerous rallies around the country to have their concerns about Uber heard. (Pic: Ian Currie)

But now, that is all under threat.

Since Uber’s arrival, Brian Smith has seen his life savings evaporate.

The former Brisbane taxi driver, 69, bought three taxi licences, hoping they would secure his retirement income. Now they are unsellable.

“After working 40 plus years, 70-hour weeks, I will be losing everything and I have done nothing wrong,” Mr Smith said.

“It is very hard to sleep at night as it’s my superannuation and children’s inheritance.”

Taxi Council Queensland chief executive Benjamin Wash says the way the State Government has acted towards the taxi industry is a “disgrace”.

“The Queensland Government has done nothing at all to assist taxi owners,” he said.

“They have talked about a compensation package but this is not due until late 2017 when this government may not even be in power.

“They have treated the taxi industry appallingly, by pandering to a large foreign company who sends its profits offshore and abandoning the more than 16,000 small business owners who make up Queensland’s taxi industry and who pay their taxes and support their local communities.

“The way the State Government has acted is a disgrace. Their review was a total farce and their sloppy regulatory changes have resulted in lowering the standards of personalised transport in Queensland for no economic benefit.”

Speaking with Sandy Spanos, president of Victorian Taxi and Hire Car Families — an organisation fighting the Victorian government on its proposed changes — it is clear there has been a massive shift since Uber arrived.

Brian Smith has invested his entire life savings into three taxi licences only to see them plummet in value since the announcement of Uber’s legalisation. (Pic: Renae Droop)

Before Uber, banks viewed taxi licences as assets. So, like a house, you could borrow money using the equity in your licence. Let me repeat: it is illegal to operate as a taxi driver in Australia unless you have a licence.

So, why has it suddenly become okay for Uber? Why has the government allowed Uber to swoop? Why will laws be changed to accommodate an offshore company thus destroying a part of our economy? Allowing for the destruction of our local taxi companies which are as much a part of the facade of our nation as trams and trains?

And there are so many legalities surrounding insurance and protection of not only the passengers but the drivers. What are Uber’s legal obligations? Lawsuits and criminal charges against Uber and its drivers are beginning to pop up all over the world and all the while the public ignores all of this because it’s saving their hip pocket.

Sure, we may be saving now but not in the long run.

How would people like it if they bought a house for $250,000 and the government then came along and said actually we would like to acquire your house for $100,000 because, well, we want to and you have no choice?

What if you had used the equity in that house to buy a few other houses to fund your retirement and the government also said they were acquiring those houses and they would pay you $50,000 for the second house and nothing for the third or fourth? And then what if they said they would be paying you that money over eight years, and you were 65 years old?

Because that’s what is happening and I’m sorry, I’m not turning a blind eye to it. Because a licence is an asset, like a house and the government needs to be held accountable.

If Uber wants to buy into our economy via our taxi industry, why are they not paying for that privilege? Thousands of hardworking Australians did. In fact, most licence holders are from non-English speaking backgrounds, migrants who came to this land of opportunity only to have it stolen away.

Are we boarding on racism here? Would this be happening if most of the licence holders where Anglo?

And where do our governments think these families will end up? On welfare. Why would you not just invest in protecting these families from destitution and compensate them rightfully and fairly?

We’ll be sorry when our reliable taxi industry dries up.

Yes you may love Uber but let’s see things for what they really are.

Because if the government can get away with this, then what’s next? What other assets will the government one day acquire for a fraction of what they were purchased for, just because?

Koraly Dimitriadis is a freelance writer and author. Her theatre show KORALY: “I say the wrong things all the time” is on at Melbourne’s La Mama Theatre Nov.-Dec., 2016 koralydimitriadis.com