{"id":684104,"date":"2026-05-21T00:43:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T00:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/684104\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T00:43:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T00:43:17","slug":"queensland-tour-operators-call-for-exemption-from-proposed-e-bike-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/684104\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland tour operators call for exemption from proposed e-bike law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tour guides say they are desperately seeking an exemption from a law banning under-16s from using e-bikes and other electric-powered devices in Queensland.<\/p>\n

Proposed state legislation would require all personal mobility device (PMD) users to hold a current driver’s licence and are expected to be passed by July.<\/p>\n

The rules will impact Zak Kelly who guides holiday-makers along the Airlie Beach foreshore on Segway tours and said the restrictions would impact about 70 per cent of his income.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Zak Kelly operates segway tours in Airlie Beach and the Conway National Park. (ABC Tropical North: Bryn Wakefield)<\/p>\n

“My whole business will be completely smashed,” he said.<\/p>\n

“People come here on holiday in the Whitsundays with their families. They want to do a family activity and we’ll be completely wiped out from that.”<\/p>\n

Mr Kelly said many of the international tourists arrived on the tropical coast with passport-in-hand and no licence, meaning they would be unable to use his service.<\/p>\n

Inquiry recommendations<\/p>\n

A Queensland government committee report into e-mobility safety handed down this month<\/a> did not recommend an exemption for tour companies using PMDs.<\/p>\n

“After the report I was just lying in bed at night thinking how am I going to survive, how am I going to have a job if this bill goes through?” Mr Kelly said.<\/p>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

Zak Kelly says only a third of his clients are adults holding a licence. (ABC Tropical North: Bryn Wakefield)<\/p>\n

The Queensland Tourism Industry Council estimates more than 8 per cent of the tourism industry could be affected by the proposed restrictions.<\/p>\n

General manager Melanie Anderson said a proposed 10 kilometre per hour speed limit on footpaths or shared pathways would also affect how far and often tours could travel.<\/p>\n

“There’s also the enjoyment factor [when] going so slow,” she said.<\/p>\n

Island tours affected<\/p>\n

At South Molle Island, a short boat ride from Airlie Beach, Dylan Ford runs e-bike tours and hikes overlooking nearby bays and reef.<\/p>\n

Electric power-assisted cycles allowed young people and those with lower fitness levels to enjoy national parks they otherwise would not see.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dylan Ford spartners with local boat and bus transfer companies to run his tours. (ABC Tropical North: Bryn Wakefield)<\/p>\n

“I would say 60 per cent of our groups that we take are family groups with usually mum and dad and one if not two teenage kids,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Ford’s company is one of few tour companies operating from the island.<\/p>\n

Without e-bikes, he said his business would become “unviable” because trails would take too long to complete on South Molle.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

South Molle Island is one of 74 islands in the Whitsundays. (Supplied: Donna Lumley)<\/p>\n

He hopes to see power-assisted pedal bikes stripped from the proposed legislation and said the debate had already stopped him from booking family groups beyond July.<\/p>\n

“I can’t give them a straight answer on whether I’m going to be able to put them on a bike or not,” he said.<\/p>\n

State Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg referred the ABC to the Department of Transport and Main Roads for comment.<\/p>\n

In response, the department said the government was “carefully considering its response” to the committee report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tour guides say they are desperately seeking an exemption from a law banning under-16s from using e-bikes and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,38911,329753,329754,25494,6771],"class_list":["post-684104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-e-bike","tag-e-mobility","tag-guided-tours","tag-laws","tag-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684104","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=684104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}