Hayden In Cab Blue Over $9 Fare
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday November 4, 2000
Former governor-general Bill Hayden was involved in a heated argument with a cab driver after he could not pay a $9 taxi fare.
Mr Hayden tried to use his Cabcharge card to pay for the fare from the Brisbane CBD to an address in an inner suburb on Saturday night, the Courier-Mail newspaper said yesterday.
The cab driver, Bruce Kent, a schoolteacher who works part-time to earn extra money, told Mr Hayden and his wife Dallas they would have to pay cash after the Cabcharge machine failed to get reception because they had parked under a concrete building.
Mr Hayden said the machine was the driver's problem and he only had $5.
He gave Mr Kent his business card, saying he could collect the fare from his city office next week.
Mr Kent and Mr Hayden then exchanged words.
Black and White Cabs chief executive Greg Webb said the company later paid the $9 cab fare to Mr Kent and had counselled him about speaking discourteously.
© 2000 Illawarra Mercury