Taxi licences: Angry callers take on Tom Elliott

Fierce debate has broken out over taxi licences on the Drive program this afternoon, and Tom Elliott was in the line of fire.

The chair of a parliamentary inquiry, Bernie Finn, told Tom Elliott an independent valuer should be appointed to determine fair compensation for taxi licence holders.

The inquiry has recommended compensation for licence holders be based on the assets’ market value.

• Click PLAY above to hear Tom talk with Mr Finn

Tom Elliott agreed with the recommendations – and that prompted a wave of angry callers.

Caller 1: Sarah – “Tom, I’m really angry at you!”

Tom’s response…

“You said it’s an investment. Well, OK: I have a lot of shares before the GFC that went down in value.

“Did the government compensate me? No.

“Should they have? No.

“Why? Because when you make an investment you take a risk, and nowhere is it written that every investment must go up in value.”

Caller 2: Stuart – “They changed the rules. Not us!”