{"id":451328,"date":"2026-02-01T09:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T09:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/451328\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T09:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T09:24:14","slug":"queensland-rebate-scheme-used-to-purchase-hundreds-of-potentially-illegal-e-bikes-and-e-scooters-audit-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/451328\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland rebate scheme used to purchase hundreds of potentially illegal e-bikes and e-scooters, audit finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of illegal or potentially illegal e-bikes and e-scooters were purchased under a state government rebate scheme, a new audit has revealed.<\/p>\n

The Queensland government on Sunday released the results of an internal audit into the scheme, which was announced by the former Labor government<\/a> in September 2024.<\/p>\n

It offered rebates<\/a> of $500 for eligible e-bikes and $200 for eligible e-scooters, and set out eligibility requirements, including that devices could not travel faster than 25 kilometres per hour under operated power.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The rebate scheme was announced in September 2024 by then-transport minister Bart Mellish. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)<\/p>\n

Funding for the scheme, which was announced by former transport minister Bart Mellish, was exhausted within a month.<\/p>\n

Of a total 3,265 e-bikes funded by the scheme, 21 per cent, or 693, were illegal or potentially so, government figures showed.<\/p>\n

E-bikes and e-scooters are illegal if they can travel over 25km\/h unassisted or if the motor is larger than 250 watts.<\/p>\n

Five bikes could not be tracked down and two were found not to have been e-bikes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 141 of a total 1,508 e-scooters subsidised by the scheme were found to be illegal.<\/p>\n

‘Fuel to the fire’\"A<\/p>\n

Brent Mickelberg says Labor’s decision to implement an “ill-considered scheme” left it with “questions to answer”. (Supplied: Facebook)<\/p>\n

Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said the rebate scheme had only served to add “fuel to the fire” of community concern about illegal e-mobility devices.<\/p>\n

“Labor have questions to answer,” he said.<\/p>\n

“[Why did] they allow such a ill-considered scheme to be rolled out?”<\/p>\n

He called for Labor to take responsibility for the findings.<\/p>\n

“It’s easy to pass the buck to public servants, but ultimately it’s the government that is responsible here,” Mr Mickelberg said.<\/p>\n

\"E-scooter<\/p>\n

Of 1,508 e-scooters subsidised by the scheme, 141were illegal. (ABC News: Claudia Williams)<\/p>\n

However, Labor’s Shannon Fentiman hit back at Mr Mickelberg’s criticism, saying the scheme had been put in place with “strict guidelines” and the illegal devices should never have been approved for a rebate.<\/p>\n

Yet another e-bike death sparks call for law consistency<\/a><\/p>\n

Police believe a 15-year-old boy is the first person to die in Tasmania riding an e-bike, raising questions about what laws exist to regulate e-bike safety in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The use of government funds for illegal bikes and scooters is absolutely unacceptable,” she said.<\/p>\n

“There are serious questions about how the Department of Transport \u2026 allowed these funds to be given for illegal bikes.”<\/p>\n

Safety report due next month<\/p>\n

Ms Fentiman accused Mr Mickelberg of “playing politics” with the issue, and called on the government to seize the illegal devices and fine people who had used the rebate for illegal e-bikes.<\/p>\n

“The Minister must refer this matter immediately to ethical standards and\/or the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC),” she said.<\/p>\n

The Department of Transport and Main Roads has been contacted for further comment.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The maximum speed for e-bikes and e-scooters in the rebate scheme was 25 km\/h. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)<\/p>\n

The parliamentary inquiry into the use and safety of e-mobility devices is due to deliver its report by the end of next month.<\/p>\n

Ms Fentiman on Sunday reiterated calls for the government to put in place interim safety measures to crack down on the use of illegal e-bikes.<\/p>\n

Mr Mickelberg, however, said the government was instead taking a “calm and methodical” approach to the issue, by working through the inquiry process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of illegal or potentially illegal e-bikes and e-scooters were purchased under a state government rebate scheme, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[47291,64,63,70263,651,784,13729,13731,233253,25494,44,233252,701,16861],"class_list":["post-451328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-accidents","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bikes","tag-brisbane","tag-cycling","tag-e-bikes","tag-e-scooters","tag-illegal-e-bikes","tag-laws","tag-news","tag-personal-mobility-scooters","tag-queensland","tag-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}