QLD gives Uber ridesharing the green light

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ScreenHunter_2626 May. 29 14.00

By Leith van Onselen

In a bold move, the Queensland Government has broken rank with its New South Wales and Victorian counterparts and won’t be regulating Uber’s ride-sharing service. From the Brisbane Times:

“We are a deregulation-minded government,” [Campbell Newman] told ABC radio.

“We don’t believe in more red tape and regulation unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

This is a great move by the Queensland Government.

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Ride-sharing is an economic no-brainer, providing greater choice to consumers and lowering costs, while also improving productivity by facilitating a more efficient use of the existing transport fleet. Yet, economic no-brainers tend to be resisted by incumbent interests who are threatened by it.

Everywhere in the world where ridesharing has been tried, a storm of opposition has been aroused by vested interests; not just in the Taxi industry, but in public transport monopolies and government.

As argued by Colin Clark (a distinguished colleague of J M Keynes), in possibly his last published work, “Regional and Urban Location” (1982):

Anyone who defends the taxi monopoly, and restrictions on multiple hiring, while at the same time complaining about the use of fuel, is totally incoherent. The abolition of the taxi monopoly would cheapen travel, save fuel, reduce congestion, and would have one further great advantage, to which hardly any attention has been drawn, namely that it would provide employment opportunities for the unskilled…..

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As I keep arguing, all that should be required in operating a ridesharing service is meeting basic performance standards, a valid driver’s licence, and a registered and road worthy car. Adults in Australia should be free to choose their transport options, not have them dictated to by the Government.

The Queensland Government recognises this. Shame about New South Wales and Victoria.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.