Concerns of Crony Capitalism with Uber.

Ministry’s Taxi Industry Review Highlights Concerns of Crony Capitalism with Uber.

Ubers arrival is starting to highlight some of the things that are wrong with our political system, in particular the greater political influence corporations have over our laws here New Zealand. It wasn’t that long ago that an overseas corporation would have been told where to go if they had come here insisting that we need to change our laws for their benefit.

Green Cabs is a New Zealand company started in our capital in 2007. When we entered the industry there were only a very small number of Hybrid vehicles operating as taxis. Now hybrids are everywhere and the shape and face of the taxi industry has changed and we like to think that Green Cabs has been responsible for helping to bring about this change.

Not long after we launched in the market before we were able to keep up with the demand for our service and it’s a problem that we still struggle with today. One of the things we did to try to alleviate this problem was to contact the Ministry of Social Development under Paula Bennett’s watch to discuss the Ministry helping fund people who were receiving an unemployment benefit into becoming taxi drivers. It was a win, win on many fronts; We would help unemployment by providing opportunities, we could better be able to service our clients who are wanting an environmentally friendly option, The Ministry would have more people coming off the dole and the people in question would have a new and interesting career. It was a no brainer. The Ministry even had a $10000 grant for people wanting to set themselves up in Business. We only required $2500 of that, so it all seemed to fit together rather nicely.

The response we received from the Ministry was essentially that funding would not be granted to people to become taxi drivers. As this shortage of drivers continued we submitted similar requests a further two times. We got the same or a similar response each time.

After rumors of this being not the case an OIA request was submitted in 2014 asking Paula Bennett’s office how many people had been funded to become taxi drivers between 2007 and 2014, the seven years Green Cabs has been in operation. It turns out that the Ministry helped support 75 people to become taxi drivers in that time period and in the same time period placed 282 people on courses to become taxi drivers.

Green Cabs as a company, is about change. It’s also about being Green and looking after the environment we all live in but it is also about not being afraid to do things differently, to push the boundaries, to bring about change in a good, healthy and positive way. We have already embraced the technology that Uber has and have incorporated into Green Cabs operations, all the while remaining compliant with New Zealand’s Laws and regulations. It raises the question of why is it so difficult for a corporation with pockets as deep as Uber’s to be able to do the same. Is it simply a case of why bother complying when instead you can buy influence to tilt the playing field in your favor.

If so we should be asking what does this really mean for the future of our political system. It raises the question of why can’t a New Zealand company get assistance from the New Zealand Government for New Zealand people when that same government is willing to bend over backwards to assist an international company who can’t even be bothered to follow New Zealand Law.

It has recently been revealed in a New Zealand Herald article, that Uber executives flew into New Zealand to have an evening with the transport Minister and other politicians as part of their push into New Zealand. This evening included dinner at the US Ambassador’s residence. The dinner has then been followed with some heavy political lobbying from Uber in a bid to get our laws changed to favor their business model.

The thing I find most disappointing in all of this is that Green Cabs is a New Zealand Company that was started in and still has its head office in Wellington. We have a great team of people and on the face of it we can’t get a fair shake of the stick from the Ministers office. Meanwhile Uber have been here all of 5 minutes and are wining and dining the Transport Minister and a few of our other politicians. Next thing you know we have a review of the entire Small Passenger Service Vehicle industry. It’s a sad day for New Zealand. It shows that money buys political access. We won’t have to wait for too long to determine whether or not that same access buys political influence and just how much political influence it buys. We used to be the least corrupt nation in the world. Recent events seem to indicate that our system may be more and more at risk from various forms of crony capitalism. The outcome of the SPSV review should provide a good litmus test as to whether or not this is indeed the case. As a nation we are being continuously told that we need to lift productivity in this country if we are to do better on the world stage. The question is does our government want us to pull our socks up and get on with the job as is the kiwi way. Or are we to simply pull our pants down anytime an overseas corporation with deep pockets wants our laws changed. When did we stop investing in New Zealanders and New Zealand companies for the betterment of New Zealand?

Callum Brown

Managing Director

Green Cabs Limited.

ENDS

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