Oliver Peterson:
Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury and he joins me live on drive. Dr Leigh, good afternoon.
Andrew Leigh:
Good afternoon Oliver, great to be with you.
Peterson:
Right now, states are responsible for this and each have their own rules. Why is the federal government getting involved?
Leigh:
Well, there’s 2 stages at which we need to crack down on these dodgy e‑bikes. The first is that the Transport Ministers, led by Minister Catherine King, got together and agreed to a set of standards about what can be ridden. And now the Consumer Ministers are getting together and we’ve agreed on a set of standards about what can be sold.
That means that from next year, the ACCC will have set a safety standard that will regulate things like how fast the bike can go, how much power it can have and ensuring it can’t be modified. E‑bikes are a great boon in terms of mobility, but these super‑powered bikes are a risk to their own riders and to pedestrians around them.
Peterson:
Have you ridden one yourself, Andrew?
Leigh:
I have. I don’t own one. I quite enjoy being on a bike under my own power. But I do see their value both in terms of getting people into riding if they’re a bit tentative or live in a hilly area, or else for older people who want to extend their cycling career. Everyone who gets out of the car and onto a bike means that they’re reducing traffic congestion. So, e‑bikes can have a real benefit. But they need to be the sort of bikes that take you at the speed that a fit cyclist could go, not at the kind of speed that a motorcyclist would be travelling at.
Peterson:
Yeah, it can be quite divisive. What have you heard from the community about these e‑bikes? What sort of feedback has been presented to you yourself?
Leigh:
A lot of riders enjoy them. People find that they’re an affordable and effective way of getting around the community. But the impact on pedestrians of overpowered bikes is something that makes people really scared. You know, people don’t want to be out on bike paths. And I’m here in the ACT, which has a huge network of bike paths. People don’t want to have effectively a motorbike, racing past them.
So, this will set standards about what can be sold. The ACCC – the federal regulator – will set that and then it’ll be enforced by not only the ACCC, but all of the state and territory regulators, including Consumer Protection WA.
Peterson:
Any idea how many unsafe or illegal e‑bikes might be on our streets right now?
Andrew Leigh:
We don’t have good data on that. It’s an excellent question and I think it’s one of the things that the regulators are looking at at the moment. The key thing, though, is to make sure that they’re no longer being sold. We’ll have clear standards over what can be sold and clear standards that prevent modification.
Right now, people are buying bikes, claiming they’re going to be using them off road and then modding them and taking them around on the roads, hooning around the place, making a danger to themselves and others. We need to stop that happening and we’re doing that through this federally led consumer standard.
Peterson:
Is enough being done to stop these souped‑up scooters even being imported into Australia in the first place?
Leigh:
Well, right now we don’t have the safety standard that sets rules around what can be imported. That’s why this piece of work is so critical. It’s why it was strongly backed by all the state and territory Consumer Ministers when I brought it to them in Darwin last week when the Consumer Ministers met. It’s a big priority for all of the jurisdictions. The Transport Ministers have led the work in terms of what can be ridden. Now the Consumer Ministers are doing the work about what can be sold.
Peterson:
My guest is Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. Do you love and use these e‑rideables or do you loathe them? 1300 22 1025. Is there anything in particular that you would like to see change as a result of this framework, which is now under the remit of the competition watchdog? Because we get obviously here, Andrew, a bit of feedback about whether or not they should be licensed. Now, is that something that might be considered? Licensing these e‑bikes so we have greater oversight on who uses them and where they are?
Leigh:
Transport Ministers considered that option, Oliver, but they opted instead for setting a standard that essentially ensures that e‑bikes aren’t going faster than a very fit cyclist would be able to take them. So, the standard that they’ve set says that they can’t be powered at more than 250 watts, the power assist has to cut out at 25 kilometres an hour and they can’t be modified. That means that they’re getting around at the kind of pace you would expect a bike to get around at. Putting in place a new licensing regime, I think, would be extremely complicated and that’s why the Transport Ministers went for the approach of regulating what can be ridden on the road.
Peterson:
So, these will be enforced through consumer laws effectively, not through transport or policing jurisdictions. Is that what you’re expecting, Dr Leigh?
Leigh:
Yeah, the policing work is already out there. The states and territories are putting into their local rules. The agreement nationally that the Transport Ministers made. Now, this is a compact between the Consumer Ministers, then it’ll be enforced at point of sale, and we’ve got to do both to make sure that people aren’t buying unsafe bikes and they’re not riding unsafe bikes on the road.
Peterson:
Just finally, what’s the timeline on this and when do you expect the framework to be finalised?
Leigh:
The competition watchdog will have the standard set at the beginning of next year and we’ll immediately set about enforcing that. It’ll be enforced, as I said, through the federal competition watchdog – the ACCC and also through Consumer Protection WA and all its counterpart bodies.
Peterson:
Andrew Leigh, thanks for your time.
Leigh:
Thanks so much Oliver.
Peterson:
Dr Andrew Leigh joining us live on Drive this afternoon. He’s the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury.