Katter, Hanson to ride with taxi licence owners
A LAST-DITCH bid to secure fair compensation for Queensland’s taxi licence holders is under way, with federal crossbench heavyweights Bob Katter and Pauline Hanson vowing to pile the pressure on the state government.
But the long-running legal battle by 900 taxi licence owners against the state looks likely to fizzle out, with lawyers for the government understood to be moving to have the case wholly thrown out.
The value of taxi licences, a once coveted asset, plummeted when ride-sharing services like Uber entered the market with the legalisation of those services in 2016 crushing the taxi industry even more.
Kennedy MP Mr Katter and Senator Hanson, both of whom have been supporting the claim, argue licence owners – largely small business owners – had invested in the highly regulated industry in good faith.
This would be the last opportunity for the state to offer a compensation package but it’s understood lawyers for the government plan to apply for the entire case to be dismissed instead.
Senator Hanson said many licence holders had been left destitute by the fall of the industry, suffering financial and mental health consequences.