Letter to the Editor: support for better e-bike rules

DEAR News Of The Area,

YOUR correspondent Maitoumbi Zammit (‘We need e-bike rules’, NOTA 22 May 2026) is right to question the adequacy of laws applying to the use of e-bikes.

The Woolgoolga branch of the Labor Party considered how best to regulate these dangerous but useful vehicles and submitted a motion to the NSW Labor State Conference seeking a change to the current laws.

The motion sought: “That a legal pathway for high powered e-bikes be provided based on registration, third party personal insurance, identification with traceability and rider licensing, along with higher penalties for misuse including confiscation and destruction.”

We recognised that the problem with e-bike use is not the bikes themselves but people who operate them irresponsibly.

Powerful e-bikes that are currently banned in NSW have a range of commercial uses in Europe and it is short-sighted to deny the legitimate use of these vehicles.

Powerful e-bikes are effectively electric motorbikes and should be treated as such with requirements for registration and traceability, roadworthiness, licensing of riders and third-party personal insurance to cover the cost of injuries to pedestrians.

In addition, there needs to be strong deterrence for misuse including loss of licence and the ability to seize and destroy unlawfully ridden e-bikes.

The branch is of the view that the current laws around the use of e-bikes are inadequate and they need to be not only strengthened but also policed.

Regards,

Lisa ELLEM

Secretary, Woolgoolga Labor