Media Release

KAP Leader and Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter said the Four Corners report aired on ABC last night revealed a number of ‘unsurprising ‘ controversies surrounding ridesharing giant ‘UBER’, which drew attention to just how badly the taxi industry has been impacted in UBER’s Australian crusade.

For more than three years Mr Katter has been fighting tooth and nail to support legal taxi owners in Queensland, pre-empting the taxi industry closed action case against the QLD Government currently before the Supreme Court, where losses are estimated to be around $1.5 billion.

“I always argued that UBER was operating illegally and threatened the standards and safety of taxi services across the state.

“At the time (2016), UBER was an illegal taxi service which was spawning copycats across Queensland. So what was shown on Four Corners last night was unsurprising and all it did was validate what I have been saying for years.

“Before the Queensland Government legalised ridesharing in 2017, and destroyed our taxi industry in the process, anyone, anywhere could drive their private cars and ferry the public around – the Government just turned a blind eye to illegal activity.

“UBER completely eroded the integrity and viability of the taxi licensing scheme administered by the State Government and now we have nearly a thousand taxi owners suing the Government for compensation – and rightly so,” Mr Katter said.
Marie Meares, spokesperson for the taxi industry said that the Four Corners story shone the spotlight on why they were pursuing legal action against the Queensland Government.

“As part of our claim, the State Government failed to properly enforce the law when ridesharing began in this state.

“The Four Corners report last night highlighted the extent of the illegal operations and why our claim is against the State Government and not Uber.”

The closed action case was filed with Crown Law in Brisbane in early March and proceedings are currently underway.

—ENDS—