Electric bikes and scooters
Tim READ (Brunswick) (10:31): I am going to ask members now to spot the difference. So far in 2025, 183 lives have been lost on Victorian roads but driving around in Victoria has remained largely the same. Also in 2025, precisely one e-bike battery caught fire on a train in Victoria, and now the government is proposing to ban all e-bikes and e-scooters from trains. This disproportionate response to risk suggests some hostility to people who get around without a car. I have heard from constituents and community groups who rely on taking their e-bike on the train for their commute as well as for recreation or tourism. This blanket ban will leave those people stranded or force them back into their cars. Meanwhile, the government’s own report acknowledges that fire risk stems largely from noncompliant imported e-bikes and home conversion kits. Back in 2018 Coroner Audrey Jamieson recommended that the state government better regulate noncompliant e-bikes but she was ignored, and now the government wants to ban all e-bikes and e-scooters, even compliant ones. This is a major overreaction and a misguided attempt to solve the real problem of home conversion kits and unsafe imports which, by the way, are a workplace safety issue for delivery riders. E-bikes are here to stay, and a good government would safely facilitate this transition instead of running away from it. This ban should not go ahead.