Two-strikes rule to slam brakes on dodgy taxi drivers
Repeatedly refusing short taxi trips or requests to turn on the meter will be enough for cabbies to be kicked to the curb, but more inspectors may be needed to enforce the crackdown.
Dodgy taxi and rideshare drivers face losing their licence to operate under Victorian "two strikes and you're out" laws similar to NSW.
The proposed legislative shake-up is set to give industry regulator Safe Transport Victoria greater powers to suspend or cancel the accreditation of drivers who have two fare-related convictions.
A pattern of complaints could also spell trouble for commercial passenger vehicle drivers, Victorian Public Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams signalled.
"There might be complaints made about an individual driver that are very similar but fall below that conviction threshold, it still allows the regulator to do something about it," she told reporters on Friday.
Other changes in the overhaul include compulsory QR codes in taxis and rideshare to link passengers through to a complaints page, harsher penalties for bad behaviour and mandating audio recordings in taxis.
The latter measure will make it easier for taxi operators to investigate complaints, the government said.
Carers will also be able to access live in-vehicle vision if offered by taxi or rideshare companies after a high-profile case of a cabbie abusing and scamming passengers with disabilities.
Ms Williams described the behaviour as "utterly unacceptable and disgusting".
The Transport Workers Union said the two-strikes policy unfairly targeted drivers and failed to address poor passenger behaviour.
"This is thoughtless demonising of transport workers," its national secretary Michael Kaine said.
But Victorian Taxi Association director Peter Valentine hailed the reforms, declaring mandatory audio in cabs would better protect drivers and passengers alike.
"Either one can be the offender," he told AAP.
Mr Valentine wants the video and audio mandate extended to Uber and DiDi operators despite drivers also using them as private cars.
He estimates there are roughly 90,000 commercial passenger vehicle drivers in the state and suggested passengers won't suffer if 10 to 15 per cent are shown the door following the crackdown.
But he concedes the regulator will likely face an uphill battle enforcing the incoming rules due to a lack of inspectors.
"If you've got 90,000 drivers, do you think three people can control them? There's half your problem," Mr Valentine said.
"You stand out there and blow your trumpet but it's no good unless the music comes out."
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Sky News AU
4 hours ago
- Sky News AU
John Pesutto rejected 'offer of assistance' from Moira Deeming that would have saved him from bankruptcy, prevented by-election
Former Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto has rejected an 'offer of assistance' from Moira Deeming which would have saved him from imminent bankruptcy and prevented a costly by-election for his seat of Hawthorn. The former Liberal leader has just over two weeks to pay the $2.3 million he owes Ms Deeming or be declared bankrupt – an outcome that will see him thrown out of parliament. Mr Pesutto has already raised just over $750,000 in order to help settle the debt and is pushing for an agreement which would see the Liberal Party, or a party-linked investment fund, loan him the remaining $1.5 million. However, the Victorian Liberal Party remains deeply divided over whether its funds should be used to bail out the former leader, who was found to have defamed Ms Deeming as someone who 'associates with Nazis'. In a letter sent to Mr Pesutto, current Opposition Leader Brad Battin and Victorian Liberal Party president Philip Davis, Ms Deeming offered not to call in the bankruptcy notice served on Mr Pesutto. In exchange, the former Liberal leader, and the Liberal Party, would have to agree to a series of conditions. Theses include: that Mr Pesutto immediately pays 'all available funds' he has raised to Ms Demeing, while the remainder of the debt is deferred until 30 March 2027 in order to 'give him sufficient time to secure the necessary funds and avoid bankruptcy'. That Ms Deeming's preselection is endorsed as the party's lead candidate for the Western Metropolitan upper house ahead of the next election so she can serve her community 'without any internal distractions'. That the Liberal Party, through Mr Battin, provide Ms Deeming and her family with a 'unreserved written and public apology for the way (she has) been treated, for the imputations against (her) reputation and that all the false allegations and defamatory slurs directed towards (her) are rejected'. That the Liberal Party hold a 'wholesale review into existing internal dispute resolution', led by an independent person from outside Victoria and that the party 'undertake to consider those recommendations in good faith' in order to ensure there is never another dispute similar to that between Ms Deeming and Mr Pesutto. Finally, it also requests that all parties 'draw a line under the events of the past two years and ensure our focus is on the constituents we serve, the party we love and the people of Victoria'. Ms Deeming outlined her motivations for the offer by citing her respect for party members and her dismay that funds intended to help the party win government would be used to bail out Mr Pesutto. 'I write to you as a Liberal and I make this offer as someone who deeply respects the rights of Liberal Party members to a party that is focused on winning the 2026 state election and securing a better future for all Victorians,' Ms Deeming states in the letter. 'I am dismayed by reports that the Liberal Party (Victorian Division) is considering an approach from Mr John Pesutto to meet his financial obligations in relation to a costs order made against him by the Federal Court after an earlier judgment that he defamed me. 'From the outset, both former president Mr Greg Mirabella and current incumbent Mr Philip Davis publicly stated that no party funds would be used in this action and to now expect the party to cover Mr Pesutto's substantial debts goes against the grain of everything we believe as Liberals.' Ms Deeming's letter states that the offer is 'not up for negotiation, and it expires at 5pm on Tuesday 10 June 2025'. 'I have suffered through a gruelling two and half years where almost every offer I made to negotiate a settlement was rejected,' the letter states. 'This is my final attempt to spare the Liberal Party further harm and to afford Mr Pesutto, and his family, the dignity that was denied me, my husband and my children.' However, Mr Pesutto has rejected the deal, with a strong backer of Ms Deeming accusing the member for Hawthorn of holding out for "holding out for the party or its entities to pay his bills". Sky News Australia's Peta Credlin reported on Wednesday that after asking for an additional 24 hours to respond, the former opposition leader put forward a counter offer. It is understood this would have seen him pay around $1.2 million of the debt in exchange for agreeing not to ask the party for a loan. "Understandably, his counter offer was rejected," Credlin said, adding that the Liberals she had spoken to "cannot fathom any of this". "Clearly, he's now pinning all his hopes on the Liberal Party bailing him out with a loan at an Admin Committee meeting that's now been shifted to next Thursday," she said. "I am told Pesutto wants 15 plus years to pay back this debt, which means to be honest, he will never pay it back." Sources close to Mr Pesutto have dismissed the proposal as unworkable. Speaking to a Liberal figure said the $750,000 referred to in Ms Deeming's letter was made up of 'provisional commitments' that had been pledged on the condition that the Liberal Party loan the former leader the remaining amount needed to avoid bankruptcy and a by-election. The Pesutto-aligned figure also disputed the claim the offer would resolve the dispute, stating it would 'simply stay the execution from now… to March 2027'. 'I think it's more about trying to cut a deal on the preselection, which I think is pretty outrageous because it has just got nothing to do with the dispute,' they said. 'Imagine getting that shoehorned in and everybody else has to stand before the membership.' In a further email sent to the Victorian Liberal Party admin committee, on which Mr Battin sits alongside Mr Mirabella and federal MP Dan Tehan, Ms Deeming hit back at those suggestions. "I do not intend to respond any further to claims made by Mr Pesutto given his rejection of my offer, but I will make these additional comments to clarify assertions he has made tonight that this was 'not a real deal' and questions he has raised regarding the terms of my offer including matters relating to my preselection," she wrote. "My offer was real, and you may know it was accepted as real by Mr Pesutto due to the fact that he sought (and was granted) a 24 hour extension to Tuesday's initial deadline and then came back with a counter offer. If not 'real', why did he entertain it at all? "The counteroffer - relayed to me by intermediaries in the negotiations- was that all of my terms had been accepted except for the amount that Mr Pesutto was willing to pay. He instead proposed to accept my offer on the basis that he make a total payment of $1.2m only, rather than the full $2.3m sum as ordered by the Federal Court." Ms Deeming added she had subsequently presented her own counter offer, giving Mr Pessutto "the opportunity to pay $1.3m now, with a further 3 years to pay the balance". She claimed that offer was "almost immediately rejected", with the former Liberal leader then proceeding to cut "all communication". Mr Pesutto is believed to be 'hopeful' the Liberal Party's admin committee will sign off on a proposal that would see the former leader provided a loan of $1.5 million to settle the debt, although it remains unclear whether the 19-member body will back the idea.
The Advertiser
9 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Offer denied for ex-Liberal leader to avert bankruptcy
An 11th-hour offer from a defamed MP to partially defer an ousted state Liberal leader's $2.3 million legal bill in exchange for guaranteed preselection has fallen over. Victorian Liberal Moira Deeming wrote to former opposition leader John Pesutto, his successor Brad Battin and Victorian Liberal president Philip Davis on Sunday with a series of demands to spare Mr Pesutto bankruptcy. Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Mrs Deeming after the Federal Court found he defamed her by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. A bankruptcy notice was served to Mr Pesutto on Friday, leaving him 21 days to pay the debt, sign up to a payment arrangement or face bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would force his exit from Victorian parliament, setting up an expensive by-election in his marginal state seat of Hawthorn in Melbourne's east. In her letter to the trio, seen by AAP, Mrs Deeming said she was "dismayed" the state party was considering an approach from Mr Pesutto to meet his financial obligations to her. "It is because of the extraordinary support that I have received from rank-and-file members that I make this offer with the intention that the funds they have raised to fight the Labor Party remain solely directed to that important objective," she wrote. Her demands included Mr Pesutto paying the roughly $760,000 he has raised and deferring the remainder of his debt until March 30, 2027. A special resolution would have had to be passed to endorse preselection for her upper house seat so she could "enjoy the right to serve my community without any internal distractions which is something denied me to date". She also requested the party, through Mr Battin, pen an unreserved written and public apology to her and appoint of an independent person from outside the state to review internal dispute resolution mechanisms. The offer was non-negotiable and expired at 5pm on Tuesday after the parties were unable to agree. "I have suffered through a gruelling two and half years where almost every offer I made to negotiate a settlement was rejected," she wrote. "This is my final attempt to spare the Liberal Party further harm and to afford Mr Pesutto, and his family, the dignity that was denied to me, my husband and my children." One senior Liberal told AAP it was "outrageous" to attempt to use the pair's long-running dispute to secure preselection. Liberal preselection is traditionally completed through a vote of rank-and-file members, with the process for the next state election in November 2026 expected to begin from September. AAP has also been told the money raised by Mr Pesutto was conditional on the party lending him the rest, about $1.5 million, which he has vowed to pay back with interest. The party's administrative committee is expected to meet to discuss Mr Pesutto's request on June 19. Mrs Deeming and Mr Pesutto were contacted for comment. An 11th-hour offer from a defamed MP to partially defer an ousted state Liberal leader's $2.3 million legal bill in exchange for guaranteed preselection has fallen over. Victorian Liberal Moira Deeming wrote to former opposition leader John Pesutto, his successor Brad Battin and Victorian Liberal president Philip Davis on Sunday with a series of demands to spare Mr Pesutto bankruptcy. Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Mrs Deeming after the Federal Court found he defamed her by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. A bankruptcy notice was served to Mr Pesutto on Friday, leaving him 21 days to pay the debt, sign up to a payment arrangement or face bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would force his exit from Victorian parliament, setting up an expensive by-election in his marginal state seat of Hawthorn in Melbourne's east. In her letter to the trio, seen by AAP, Mrs Deeming said she was "dismayed" the state party was considering an approach from Mr Pesutto to meet his financial obligations to her. "It is because of the extraordinary support that I have received from rank-and-file members that I make this offer with the intention that the funds they have raised to fight the Labor Party remain solely directed to that important objective," she wrote. Her demands included Mr Pesutto paying the roughly $760,000 he has raised and deferring the remainder of his debt until March 30, 2027. A special resolution would have had to be passed to endorse preselection for her upper house seat so she could "enjoy the right to serve my community without any internal distractions which is something denied me to date". She also requested the party, through Mr Battin, pen an unreserved written and public apology to her and appoint of an independent person from outside the state to review internal dispute resolution mechanisms. The offer was non-negotiable and expired at 5pm on Tuesday after the parties were unable to agree. "I have suffered through a gruelling two and half years where almost every offer I made to negotiate a settlement was rejected," she wrote. "This is my final attempt to spare the Liberal Party further harm and to afford Mr Pesutto, and his family, the dignity that was denied to me, my husband and my children." One senior Liberal told AAP it was "outrageous" to attempt to use the pair's long-running dispute to secure preselection. Liberal preselection is traditionally completed through a vote of rank-and-file members, with the process for the next state election in November 2026 expected to begin from September. AAP has also been told the money raised by Mr Pesutto was conditional on the party lending him the rest, about $1.5 million, which he has vowed to pay back with interest. The party's administrative committee is expected to meet to discuss Mr Pesutto's request on June 19. Mrs Deeming and Mr Pesutto were contacted for comment. An 11th-hour offer from a defamed MP to partially defer an ousted state Liberal leader's $2.3 million legal bill in exchange for guaranteed preselection has fallen over. Victorian Liberal Moira Deeming wrote to former opposition leader John Pesutto, his successor Brad Battin and Victorian Liberal president Philip Davis on Sunday with a series of demands to spare Mr Pesutto bankruptcy. Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Mrs Deeming after the Federal Court found he defamed her by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. A bankruptcy notice was served to Mr Pesutto on Friday, leaving him 21 days to pay the debt, sign up to a payment arrangement or face bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would force his exit from Victorian parliament, setting up an expensive by-election in his marginal state seat of Hawthorn in Melbourne's east. In her letter to the trio, seen by AAP, Mrs Deeming said she was "dismayed" the state party was considering an approach from Mr Pesutto to meet his financial obligations to her. "It is because of the extraordinary support that I have received from rank-and-file members that I make this offer with the intention that the funds they have raised to fight the Labor Party remain solely directed to that important objective," she wrote. Her demands included Mr Pesutto paying the roughly $760,000 he has raised and deferring the remainder of his debt until March 30, 2027. A special resolution would have had to be passed to endorse preselection for her upper house seat so she could "enjoy the right to serve my community without any internal distractions which is something denied me to date". She also requested the party, through Mr Battin, pen an unreserved written and public apology to her and appoint of an independent person from outside the state to review internal dispute resolution mechanisms. The offer was non-negotiable and expired at 5pm on Tuesday after the parties were unable to agree. "I have suffered through a gruelling two and half years where almost every offer I made to negotiate a settlement was rejected," she wrote. "This is my final attempt to spare the Liberal Party further harm and to afford Mr Pesutto, and his family, the dignity that was denied to me, my husband and my children." One senior Liberal told AAP it was "outrageous" to attempt to use the pair's long-running dispute to secure preselection. Liberal preselection is traditionally completed through a vote of rank-and-file members, with the process for the next state election in November 2026 expected to begin from September. AAP has also been told the money raised by Mr Pesutto was conditional on the party lending him the rest, about $1.5 million, which he has vowed to pay back with interest. The party's administrative committee is expected to meet to discuss Mr Pesutto's request on June 19. Mrs Deeming and Mr Pesutto were contacted for comment. An 11th-hour offer from a defamed MP to partially defer an ousted state Liberal leader's $2.3 million legal bill in exchange for guaranteed preselection has fallen over. Victorian Liberal Moira Deeming wrote to former opposition leader John Pesutto, his successor Brad Battin and Victorian Liberal president Philip Davis on Sunday with a series of demands to spare Mr Pesutto bankruptcy. Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Mrs Deeming after the Federal Court found he defamed her by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. A bankruptcy notice was served to Mr Pesutto on Friday, leaving him 21 days to pay the debt, sign up to a payment arrangement or face bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would force his exit from Victorian parliament, setting up an expensive by-election in his marginal state seat of Hawthorn in Melbourne's east. In her letter to the trio, seen by AAP, Mrs Deeming said she was "dismayed" the state party was considering an approach from Mr Pesutto to meet his financial obligations to her. "It is because of the extraordinary support that I have received from rank-and-file members that I make this offer with the intention that the funds they have raised to fight the Labor Party remain solely directed to that important objective," she wrote. Her demands included Mr Pesutto paying the roughly $760,000 he has raised and deferring the remainder of his debt until March 30, 2027. A special resolution would have had to be passed to endorse preselection for her upper house seat so she could "enjoy the right to serve my community without any internal distractions which is something denied me to date". She also requested the party, through Mr Battin, pen an unreserved written and public apology to her and appoint of an independent person from outside the state to review internal dispute resolution mechanisms. The offer was non-negotiable and expired at 5pm on Tuesday after the parties were unable to agree. "I have suffered through a gruelling two and half years where almost every offer I made to negotiate a settlement was rejected," she wrote. "This is my final attempt to spare the Liberal Party further harm and to afford Mr Pesutto, and his family, the dignity that was denied to me, my husband and my children." One senior Liberal told AAP it was "outrageous" to attempt to use the pair's long-running dispute to secure preselection. Liberal preselection is traditionally completed through a vote of rank-and-file members, with the process for the next state election in November 2026 expected to begin from September. AAP has also been told the money raised by Mr Pesutto was conditional on the party lending him the rest, about $1.5 million, which he has vowed to pay back with interest. The party's administrative committee is expected to meet to discuss Mr Pesutto's request on June 19. Mrs Deeming and Mr Pesutto were contacted for comment.
Sky News AU
12 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Albanese's protest at reporter shot by rubber bullet labelled ‘a bit much'
Sky News host James Morrow claims Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's reaction to a reporter hit by a rubber bullet is 'a bit much' after how the COVID-19 protests were handled under a Victorian Labor government.
