Welcoming the sharing economy

The Hodgman Liberal Government welcomes any investment and innovation in Tasmania’s business sector, including those that are part of what has been dubbed the sharing economy.

We are aware supporters of Uber are being encouraged to advocate for the ride-sharing company to expand to Tasmania.

Given that Uber has launched an email campaign today, let me be very clear: the Government is not opposed to such business models, and we do not intend to effectively regulate Uber and others out of the market.

We are committed to examining the relevant regulatory environment and expanding our understanding of how they might be properly regulated with reasonable health and safety provisions.

Only recently I met with Uber and provided them with an opportunity to outline their proposition for any Tasmanian service.

We are also working closely with Tasmania’s taxi industry and have offered to look at any ideas that they have to make themselves more competitive with any new Uber-style services.

The bottom-line is this Government supports robust competition that will drive better services for all Tasmanians, with the appropriate regulatory protections.
Rene Hidding, Minister for Infrastructure