Kennett speaks out on cab licence super threat.

• by: Anne Wright
• From:Herald Sun
• July 16, 201212:00AM

FORMER premier Jeff Kennett has again taken aim at Professor Allan Fels over taxi reforms.

Mr Kennett criticised comments by the taxi industry inquiry chairman over the weekend that reducing the value of taxi licences was necessary to reduce existing costs and increase drivers' pay without driving up cab fares.

Mr Kennett said he would not support a reform that "retrospectively will destroy many individuals' superannuation asset". "Allan is also wrong in arguing you need to destroy an individual's financial asset to secure meaningful taxi reforms," he said.

Public submissions to the inquiry closed on Friday.
Mr Kennett said he supported many of the recommendations flagged by Prof Fels, but some were "unworkable" and would lead the industry into decline.
Suggestions to abolish a uniform colour for taxis would make it harder for passengers to recognise taxis approaching, he said, and the State Government should "accept the best and reject the rest".

Prof Fels said over the weekend that the policy of "doing nothing to improve taxi services if it has a negative effect on licence values" had been the key to the failure of successive governments to regulate for a good industry that provided excellent service.

"Most licence holders don't drive, but assign taxis to a third party," he wrote in Saturday's Herald Sun.

West Preston couple Zeliha and Tuncay Kilic said they would be bankrupted and lose their home if the licence they bought for $520,000 a year ago plummeted in value.

Ms Kilic said her husband had worked in the industry for 12 years before a bank finally granted him a loan to buy a taxi licence.
The couple wanted to ensure some financial security for themselves and their daughter Dilan, 5.

"We're decent people, we pay our taxes. When we purchased our licence 15 months ago we purchased it in good faith," Ms Kilic said.
"This was a sound investment in our business."

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