As the national conversation on bicycle advocacy continues in the media, we are very pleased to have been able to develop and consult with all our state, territory and national bicycle organisations on two submissions to national inquiries:

  • The Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water’s Inquiry into the transition to electric vehicles, and
  • The Treasury consultation on Tariff reform: removal of nuisance tariffs

Before we list those for you, our Director of National Advocacy, Stephen Hodge, was interviewed by Wade Wallace at the Escape Collective, for his latest industry podcast that answered listeners questions on the industry’s response to COVID and commitment to advocacy nationally among other topics. We wrote an opinion piece on national advocacy following the demise of the Amy Gillett Foundation that you can read here.

You can access the podcast here at the Escape Collective or on Spotify here and listen to Stephen’s comments from around 43’30” to 55′.

Inquiry into the transition to electric vehicles

On Friday, 22 March a submission was tendered on behalf of the Australian bicycle organisations AusCycling, Bicycle Network, Bicycle NSW, Bicycle Queensland, Bike SA, Pedal Power ACT, We Ride Australia and WestCycle to the Inquiry into the transition to electric vehicles (EVs).

We acknowledged the importance of ensuring the transition to EVs is facilitated and encouraged, but nowhere did the terms of reference for this inquiry mention any mode other than EVs and we argued that the Inquiry must also include consideration of sensible alternatives (e-bikes!).

The national submission made 5 Recommendations:

  1. We ask that the Inquiry note that multiple modes will contribute to the Government’s NetZero agenda for transport and that cycling can contribute to many of the Terms of Reference.
  2. Mode Shift: We ask that the Inquiry note that the opportunity to broaden the focus to a transition leveraging both active transport and EVs is significant with active transport already contributing significant benefits as part of our transport system.
  3. Cost of Living: We ask this inquiry to recognise that mode shift to active transport provides significant cost of living relief as well as equitable and accessible transport options and is a vital component of the decarbonisation of our transport system and that it should be facilitated in all government policy and investment programs..
  4. Carbon Reduction: We ask that the Inquiry notes that a transition that includes a focus on active transport as well as to EVs has the potential to accelerate decarbonisation of the transport system and provide a range of wider benefits to health, equity, accessibility and the environment.
  5. Incentives for Mode Shift: We call on this inquiry to find that parity of treatment with incentives for EVs should be provided to LEVs.

You can read the submission here.

Treasury consultation on Tariff reform: removal of nuisance tariffs

The alliance of Australian bicycle organisations again submitted a joint submission on Thursday, 28 March to the consultation into Tariff reform: removal of nuisance tariffs.

All e-bikes imported into Australia are subject to a 5% tariff (except those from countries with a Free Trade Agreement with Australia, eg. China) and we said “the e-bike import tariff is considered a nuisance tariff as it generates a small amount of revenue and reduces the positive impact of e-bikes in Australia.”

Further, we stated that we believed “this tariff is a nuisance tariff as it:

  • Increases the cost of living unnecessarily for Australian families while generating small amounts of revenue,
  • Increases administrative and compliance burdens,
  • Negatively impacts access to higher quality e-bikes,
  • Reduces efforts to increase active transport and reduce the carbon footprint of our transport system, and
  • Reduces health benefits that flow from higher use of e-bikes.

The key recommendation in the submission was to propose “that the e-bike tariff be added as one of the tariffs to be set to ‘Free’ as part of the Australian Government’s tariff reform package. ”

Read this national submission here.

Please contact us if you would like more information at yes@weride.org.au