Penelope Nichol pioneered the following
The 1st person to introduce Cultural Tours to Victoria (1971) and Tasmania (1973) using a 7 seater mini bus, TO 24, the 1st commercial passenger vehicle licence using a minibus for tour-operated purposes.
In 1972
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In order to apply for the licence Ms Nichol was expected to have
· An itinerary - A license could not be issued without this. This itinerary is the 1st official cultural tour for Melbourne and environs.
· To buy a new mini-bus
· It is mandatory to provide 2 years of capital to run the business
1975-76
The Transport Regulation Board (TRB), illegally cancelled Ms Nichol's driver's certificate. For two years she is forced to pay for a driver and a lawyer until Ms Nichol is able to conclusively prove that the TRB had based their decision on a road law that had been repealed and struck off the books years earlier. No compensation for this mistake is made by the TRB.
1976 -1980
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Illegal operations sanctioned by the Minister of Transport |
In 1980
The Minister of Transport Mr Mcclellan, (Victoria) convenes the Parliamentary Road Safety Committee to investigate the problem within the hire drive omnibus industry. Mrs Nichol testifies to the Committee the fact that other operators are illegally copying her tour itinerary. Using hire drive vehicles is not illegal because the Act does not include Hire Drive as a category of motor car. Based on the evidence from Mrs Nichol and the Victorian Bus Association, changes to the 1958 Transport Act are recommended.
1983
Based on the Parliamentary Road Safety Committee recommendations a number of changes are included in the new Transport Act 1983
Here are some major changes that directly relate to Mrs Nichol's category of business.
Two new categories of motor "car" are included
1. Private Omnibus Divison 6 sec 163 - 166 (Was included in legislation in 1975 and now incorporated into the 1983 Transport Act)
2. Hire and Drive Omnibus Division 7 167 - 170 (as recommended by Road Safety Committee 1980)
3. Definition of "owner" is expanded to include both of the above-mentioned categories Pg 493)
4. Public commercial passenger vehicle is also defined (pg 494 -5. Sec 87 1. -5 which revamps the definitions of use of commercial passenger vehicle and its legal operations. (pg495 - 496)
1983
Despite the Fact that Mrs Nichol initiated the Parliamentary Road Safety Committee to identify problems in Transport legislation
Despite the FACT that Mrs Nichol's evidence at the hearing was used as recommendations by the Committe to close the loophole that allowed hire cars to be used as commercial passenger vehicles for hire and reward and without the need for a transport license and hence NO vehicle safety checks
Despite the FACT that these recommendations were finally adopted in the 1983 Transport Act , the Transport Regulation Board did not renew Mrs Nichol's passenger vehicle license when she could now finally operate without fear of illegal competition!
The TRB's wilful refusal led to the subsequent loss of the very 1st cultural tour licensed itinerary . It was later determined, according to Mr Morris Williams MLA for Doncaster, that this decision was "not within the law"
(Hansard 17th November 1983).
Although hire drive is now an offical definition of motor "car", any commercial passsenger vehicle using minibuses will continue to be classified under the generic category of motor car or the later definition of motor vehicle (1986 Transport Act).
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1987
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1981 – 2005
Subsequent representations by Mrs Nichol to State Government Minister's of Transport commencing with Steve Crabbe (1982-1985) and continuing withTom Roper (1985-1987), these Ministers and others continued to refuse to admit government liability in issuing a commercial passenger vehicle license without proper legislative protection and penalise Mrs Nichol by not reissuing TO 24 license to Mrs Nichol. No financial compensation for loss of license and itinerary and the many years of work to rectify problems with her license. Without the renewal of the TO 24 license, Ms Nichol’s intellecutual property - her cultural tour itinerary was up for grabs and her livelihood was in tatters.
2003
Destroying the file of the precedent cultural tourism license
TO 24 file is destroyed (disappears -however you want to name it) according to the then secretary of the Minister of Transport Mr Carlo Carli and he concludes that the file is once and or all closed
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