Uber saw the victory of Labor’s Daniel Andrews in the 2014 Victorian state election as an opportunity to finally get its lucrative Melbourne operations legalised, documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal.
Uber set up shop in Australia in 2012 without the required permits then launched an aggressive campaign to change state laws to legalise its operations across the country. It is a tactic the company has used repeatedly in markets around the world: launch first, establish a loyal customer base, and then lobby for laws to be changed.
The ride share company’s ultimate success in Australia had a devastating effect on taxi drivers, who were operating within the law by buying expensive commercial vehicle licences. Remarkable details of Uber’s Australian operations were detailed in the Uber files, an unprecedented leak of company data that the Guardian published earlier this month.
The new documents – not part of the original leak – show that in 2014 Uber was working with lobbying firm Civic Group to prepare a plan for influencing the Andrews government that included seeking meetings with dozens of politicians and senior staffers including the new premier, as well as an “aggressive public campaign against the taxi industry”, painting it as dirty, unsafe and unfriendly.
Uber should try to “convince the Premier of the need for a regulatory solution for Uber, and that it should be implemented quickly,” Civic Group, which is now a division of communications group Civic Partnership, said in the plan.
Uber also sought meetings with other influential Victorians and lobbied Victoria’s road injury insurer, the Transport Accident Commission, by portraying itself as a way to reduce drink-driving.
Labor’s victory in November 2014 swept the Coalition from power after just one term, and provided Uber with a chance to rethink its lobbying strategy.
“The election of the Andrews Labor Government now provides Uber with an opportunity to advocate more actively for regulatory/legislative change,” Civic Group wrote in its strategy plan.
“The objective of this strategy is to secure regulatory/legislative change that will allow Uber to operate legally in Victoria.”
The Andrews government announced it would legalise Uber and other ride share services in 2016 and the changes became law in 2018.
“The reforms to the commercial passenger industry were not about one provider, it was about doing the right thing to do to modernise the taxi and ride share industry,” an Andrews government spokesperson said.
“Anyone using a taxi or ride share service today will know very well that services are vastly better than before these reforms were introduced.”
Before the 2014 election Civic Group director, Jason Aldworth, a former Liberal party operative, told Uber executives he had prepared a list of “key backbenchers who can have an influence on policy decisions”.
“We have developed a list of those who we think can advocate effectively to the Minister/Shadow, have influence in the caucus/party room, and potentially be willing to ‘fly a kite’ in the media,” he said in a 10 September 2014 email to Matthew Trigg, who was on Uber’s public policy team. According to the strategy plan, that list included a number of now-ministers in the Andrews government, none of whom responded directly to Guardian Australia’s questions.
In response to questions, the Andrews government spokesperson declined to say whether the premier had personally met with Uber. “Any meetings that occurred are conducted in line with the Victorian Government Professional Lobbyist Code,” she said.
In the post-election strategy plan, Aldworth said the public part of the campaign should focus on presenting Uber as a cheaper, safer alternative to a dirty, unsafe taxi industry that “has been getting away with this because there has never been another option”.
“Currently, there is no motivation for the Government to alienate a large and powerful constituency in the taxi industry by assisting Uber,” he said.
“Therefore, the campaign needs to be aggressive in its attack on the industry and demonstrate that the entrenched monopoly is delivering poor services to consumers. Uber should be positioned as the ideal alternative – delivering the better and cheaper services that consumers want, along with better conditions for drivers.”
Briefing notes that Aldworth prepared for Uber show the company held a meeting with the chief executive of Avalon airport, Jason Giddings, in August 2014. Aldworth also spoke of the need to get onside the influential Fox family, owners of one of the country’s largest transportation companies, Linfox, which owns the Geelong-based airport.
“The Fox Family’s private office have related to me that they have significant taxi problems at Avalon airport, and are in principle very keen for an Uber solution,” Aldworth wrote in a 13 August 2014 email briefing Uber executives about an upcoming meeting with Giddings.
In the briefing, Aldworth told Uber that because of its location Avalon was not as well serviced by taxis as its bigger competitor, Tullamarine Airport, in Melbourne’s north.
“The Fox Family are one of the most influential families in Melbourne,” Aldworth wrote. “If they were to back Uber, it would mean much more than airport work – it would send a very powerful message to both the business community and to regulators. It would also make it very hard for Tullamarine to continue operating without an Uber X solution for inbound passengers.”
However, it is understood the August 2014 meeting was only with Avalon management, not with representatives of the Fox family.
“Avalon Airport confirms its management team had discussions with Uber amongst a range of other transport providers in an ongoing effort to improve airport amenity,” a spokesperson for Linfox said.
The spokesperson said Avalon had difficulties getting taxis to attend the airport, which it had repeatedly raised with authorities.
While in Geelong, Uber executives also met with the TAC’s head of community relations, Joe Calafiore, who is now the body’s chief executive.
Emails show that Uber’s head of policy for the Asia Pacific, Jordan Condo, took up suggestions from Civic Group that Uber focus the discussion on “how Uber can contribute to road safety – e.g. reducing the incidence of drink driving by providing people with a safe, cheaper ride home” by highlighting the shortage of taxis at night on weekends.
Condo also spoke to the chair of Victoria’s Taxi Services Commission, Graeme Samuel, which Guardian Australia has previously reported.
Samuel has told Guardian Australia claims by Uber that Condo struck a deal with the company to legalise its services were incorrect and he had no power to do so because licensing the vehicles it used required a change to legislation.
“I did have a conversation with him,” Condo said in a 16 September 2014 email to other Uber executives.
“We’re beginning to work off the same sheet of music.”
An Uber spokesperson did not respond to Guardian Australia’s detailed questions about the 2014 lobbying push in Victoria, referring instead to a general statement regarding the Uber Files.
