The applicant's evidence and contentions
- The applicant's grounds for reviewing the decision were that he completely misunderstood question 23 and answered it incorrectly. He attached to his application for review a copy of the decision under review, a statement dated 26 June 2015, and two references. He also included a copy of his driving record from 27 July 1974 until 9 January 2015.
- The applicant included an Attachment A with his internal review application to the respondent. He said that he had been a taxi driver in Newcastle for approximately 30 years and had many compliments from passengers for the service he provided, and not always in a written document but word of mouth. He said that he had a few written ones "although some are dated but my experience in the area of reference is that only good ones are submitted and some could be fraudulent". He said that he preferred to offer contact details of referees who could be spoken "to get a genuine assessment of my driving ability and customer care given to the young, elderly, sober or intoxicated". He provided the names and contact details of a husband and wife and another individual who were owner/operators of taxis.
- In an "Attachment B", the applicant set out the facts he wanted the internal reviewer to take into account. He referred to his 30 year driving history, providing service to various groups of people, that he had been complimented, been seriously injured during several assaults "carrying intoxicated patrons" and fare evaders but that did not affect his courtesy to customers. He addressed the 9 April 2014 offence. He said the respondent suspended his authority and he "was confident he had disclosed that" in his renewal application. He said that he did not include the 26 November 2009 offence because he miscalculated the five years. He said that he had no intent to "issue false statement or misrepresentation to obtain any advantage in the application. As "the holder of my driving record" he was confident that the respondent would be referring to it before any decision was made. He apologised for "the appearance of deceit" but that was the last thing on his mind.
- He asked that consideration be given to "the fact that it was a morning after incident" , which he regretted but he had "miscalculated" at the time, having had six hours' sleep and feeling better.
- The applicant referred to a submission he had made to taxi base operators to submit a proposal to the relevant authorities to use bus stops as stopping areas for taxis and hire cars.
- The applicant relied on the Medical Assessment form submitted with his application. A doctor completed Parts E, F and G and dated the form 27 January 2015.
- Question 38 was "Signs of alcohol and/or other drug abuse which may affect the driver/applicant's ability to drive". The doctor ticked the "Absent" box. The alternative response was "Present".
- Question 39 "Doctor's comments" was not filled in by the doctor.
- The form had been stamped: "Date 19/2/15 Reviewed by LT" and the box "Action required refer to medical review" was ticked. Below the stamp was handwritten: "Applicant to provide GP report for alcohol consumption (low range DUI 2014 + mid range DUI 2009). Pgs 110-115 of AFTD". After a space was written "Med okay Emma 16/2/15". There was also a stamp "RECEIVED" and written in handwriting "13/3/15" and an initial.
- A doctor sent in a medical report dated 5 March 2015 in relation to the applicant's alcohol assessment. The doctor concluded: "Clinically there were no stigmata of alcohol overuse and an AUDIT Assessment performed today scored 6 which does not indicate harmful alcohol consumption".
- A Public Passenger Vehicle (PPV) Medical Team Review was carried out on 13 March 2015. It noted at "Previous Review" that a GP report for alcohol consumption was required on 19 February 2015. Underneath that comment next to "Current Situation" was written: "GP report received". The Medical Team Review noted the doctor's opinion about the applicant's alcohol consumption.
- Under "Reports", the Medical Team Review listed the drinking under the influence (DUI) offences dated 9 April 2014, 15 August 2009, 15 February 2009, 15 February 1994 and 12 October 1982, all of which were mid-range except for the low range offence in 2014.
- At the hearing, the applicant maintained that he was not trying to get his licence back fraudulently. When he lost his points, the RTA cancelled his driving authority. He questioned why he had to tell the respondent what it already knew. The applicant said that he has renewed his licence many times and has never been questioned about not disclosing his traffic history. If the matter had been brought up, he would have rectified the situation. He did not realise that he had to provide old offences in his application for the authority. He thought that he had to give the most recent offences. There were periods when his authorities lapsed for a while. He has limited offences over a period of 20 years. He does not dispute his record of offences.
- He was not a full-time taxi driver. He worked for Australian Rail for 35 years until 2002 but has driven taxis regularly since 2006. When he first got his authority in 1992, he was only working one to three days a month to pay his mortgage.