Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to share an experience that I and many others have had with Canberra Cabs here in the ACT. It is now on a voice activated service and the conversation with the computer goes like this:

Welcome to Canberra Cabs. Please give the full address, including street number, street and your suburb.

If you say ‘Parliament House’ it says:

Sorry—I cannot understand that.

So you say ‘House of Representatives, Parliament House’ and it says:

Sorry—I cannot understand that.

You repeat ‘House of Representatives, Parliament House’ and it says:

Is that 8 Parliament Square, Parkes?

You say ‘No’ and it says:

Do you know the address?

You say ‘Yes’ and it says:

Please tell me.

You say, ‘House of Representatives, Parliament House’. It answers:

We have your address as 150 Sanders Place, McGregor. Is this correct?

You say, ‘No.’ And so it goes on until it identifies places such as 1,000 Riverband Rd Wallaroo. There is no Wallaroo in the ACT. There is one in Western Australia, one in South Australia and one in Queensland. I hope not too many cabs have been dispatched to Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. I have had the experience of the voice-activated machine hanging up on me, so that is a bit worrying. I have complained in a letter to Canberra Cabs. They have said that overall the implementation has been successful and that they are in the process of entering 1,000 buildings into the system. I hope they get around to entering Parliament House. If this were not so serious it would be hilarious. Drivers are unhappy, but I am most concerned for our elderly residents who will not be able to use this system and who will find themselves isolated, very often in a cold Canberra winter. This outfit is operating like a monopolist. Lift your game, Canberra Cabs, and stop operating and behaving like a monopoly.