Residents of the wealthy electorates targeted by “teal” independents are leading the transition to electric vehicles, fuelling calls for them to face a similar tax burden to those driving petrol-powered cars.

There were at least 200 Teslas on the road in the Victorian seats of Kooyong, Higgins, Melbourne and Macnamara as of January 31, according to a Herald Sun analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
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In NSW, there were 420 Teslas in Wentworth, 309 in North Sydney, and at least 200 in Bradfield, Sydney and ­Warringah.

A Bellarine Peninsula resident has labelled the region’s taxi services as “unreliable” and claimed he has been left waiting for a booked taxi for more than an hour.

Robert Drummond, who lives at Connewarre, has been unable to drive since he started experiencing balance issues late last year.

Mr Drummond regularly visits his long-term partner, Patricia, who lives in an Armstrong Creek aged care centre.
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He said he routinely experiences issues with ride share services and taxis, with drivers not wanting to travel to the Bellarine or failing to arrive on time despite being booked.

Any Booking Entity Authorisation (BEA) holder who ends a work arrangement with a driver due to serious misconduct, must immediately let Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) know. 

This includes ending the work arrangement if the driver: 

• has committed a driver disqualifying offence 
  
• did not provide a public passenger service safely while driving a motor vehicle, such as driving unsafely 
  
• has committed an offence against a provision of relevant transport legislation relating to using a motor vehicle, such as the driver providing an unauthorised taxi or booked hire service