Media statement, Tuesday 7th April 2026

Last weeks announcement by the Prime Minister outlined a range of measures to relieve household transport costs, impacted by increasing fuel prices caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The Government’s measures, welcomed by many in the community, should be combined with a range of investments in that reduce Australian household’s reliance on private motor vehicles for short trips, especially active transport.

Federal Government figures show that 50% of all trips are less than 5km, ideal distances for riding and many short enough to be walked. As fuel prices spike, it is the right time for the Government to support additional options for how Australians travel.

We Ride Australia is calling on the Australian Government to increase the resilience of our transport system by ensuring more Australians can easily access high capacity, quality public and active transport.

Image courtesy of Tern.

Measures that should be considered:

  • Incentivise use of e-bikes for commuting with purchase subsidies for legal, speed-limited e-bikes. Research into previous incentive programs has revealed up to a 3:1 return on investing in subsidies for e-bike purchases.
  • Increased investment in the infrastructure that enables more people to access public and active transport – the recent federal investment program, the Active Transport Fund, revealed enormous demand nationally with $430m in applications for the $100m fund
  • FBT treatment through salary packaging for workers using bikes to travel to work, implementing equity of FBT treatment with those provided to employees who purchase e-vehicles would promote greater uptake, and
  • Removal of import tariffs on e-bikes coming into Australia – these tariffs were introduced to ‘protect’ an Australian e-bike manufacturing sector which does not exist and simply makes e-bikes more expensive for consumers.

These measures will provide short term economic, health and community benefits in addition to providing Australian families with more options to undertake their daily trips.

The Government changes are welcomed and necessary, but we can do a lot more by providing a range of affordable, convenient transport solutions for all Australians when we invest in active and public transport.

Image courtesy of Tern.

Additional information:

  • The E-Bike Subsidy for Australians Report, was commissioned by WeRide and revealed that a Government incentive to get more people riding e-bikes returns $3 for every $1 invested.
  • Increasing investment in walking paths and bikeways allows more children to ride safely to school and more people to access work and local services cheaply and conveniently.
  • Research revealed that 64% of respondents in the Australian Cycling Economy Report are deterred from cycling as they don’t feel safe on roads with motor traffic.

Media contacts

  • Stephen Hodge, Director – National Advocacy, We Ride Australia, mob. 0411 149 910