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. 

Since the 1980's Ms Nichol's we asssert that the original licensed itinerary is a model for current cultural tourism practices by key government agencies and private tour operators.

In 1972
Penelope Nichol is issued by the Transport Regulation Board (Victoria) a commercial passenger vehicle licence, TO 24 using for the 1st time, a minibus, for hire/reward purposes. Ms Nichol's conceived the idea for minibuses as this would create an opportunity for personalised cultural tours. The only other form of tour buses had 40 seats.

This new category of vehicle to be used as a commercial passenger license, had to be approved of the Governor in Council and was awarded to Ms Nichol by the then Transport Regulation Board (TRB) based on this:

"that it considered the applicant's specialised knowledge of Australian art and culture would invaluable to small groups of visitors" (TRB, Circular Memorandum 17th December 1971, Application no. 1 & 2, pg 2

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lawyer until Ms Nichol is able to conclusively prove that the TRB had based their decision on a road law that had been repealed and struck off the books years earlier.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
Penelope Nichol discovers that there was no protective legislative coverage under the 1958 Transport Act for her category of commercial passenger vehicle - touring mini-bus.

Without legislative protection, unscrupolous un-licenced two-step operators –hire/drive of a mini-bus and hire of a driver (for hire and reward) without the need of a licence did copy Ms Nichol's tour itinerary. Alternatively, tourists too could hire a mini-bus and hire a driver and copy Mrs Nichol's itinerary. There were no legislative coverage to prevent this or make this illegal. Nor was the Government wishing to rectify the situaton as can be seen by this signed letter from the then Victorian Minister for Transport J A Rafferty.

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). 

Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that dont have brains enough to be honest -
Benjamin Franklin

 1987

The very 1st cultural tourism round the table meeting with stakeholders from museums, art galleries, and heritage as organised by  Victorian Tourism Commission under Don Dunstan  (previous premier of SA) and Steve Crabb, Minisiter for Tourism,  ex Minister for Transport in 1982 who was instrumental in stonewalling for a number of years  Mrs Nichol's repeated requests to explain why she was issued a transport license without proper legislative protection (see Hansard 1983). 

Considering  that Mrs Nichol was known by many members of Parliament according to Mr Roper (Hansard 1986), why wasn't Mrs Nichol, as a pioneer in the introduction to cultural tourism, not asked to come to this meeting?

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

Penelope Nichol has single-handedly created two significant industries - Cultural Tourism and in Transport, a new category of commercial passenger vehicle, 7 seater mini-buses. Mrs Nichol is a remarkable individual who pioneered cultural tourism which is now an industry that is now worth over 14 billion dollars to the State of Victoria alone.

It is only fair that Ms Nichol be granted ex-gratia compensation for loss of her business - her transport licence and itinerary, and the unbelievable pain and suffering that was metted upon her for over 40 years. It is time to address previous malpractice and to stand firm on principled and ethical standards of operation.

Justice delayed is justice denied