Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Electric personal mobility devices

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (18:29): (93) My adjournment tonight is directed towards the Minister for Public Transport, and the action I seek is to chart a pathway forward for the legislation of e-scooters and electric personal mobility devices, otherwise known as EPMDs. E-scooters have become popularised around the world and are now the hallmark of a cosmopolitan, forward-thinking city. Not only are they a convenient and very fun way to get around, but they are also environmentally friendly and help decongest our roads rather than adding to the growing traffic squeeze. Over 100,000 e-scooters and EPMDs are already being used in Victoria.

It says a lot about the policy black hole of a government entering its second decade that you can rent an e-scooter from a big multinational corporation, but if you want to ride around on one that you have legally bought yourself, that is unlawful. That is the current situation that, with this government, we find ourselves in. It is unsurprising that a government that slugged a tax on electric vehicles might also be hostile to private ownership of this exciting new mode of transport. This is where the rubber hits the road, I think, literally, for cyclists purveying environmental virtue. If sincere, they should welcome the sharing of taxpayer-funded bike lanes with e-scooters. A survey of e-scooter riders undertaken by one of the participants in the trial, Neuron, has found that 45 per cent of all trips had replaced a car journey. If the aim is to get more cars off the road and reduce the impact on the environment, then e-scooters tick all the boxes. The objective we want is to replace short car journeys with sustainable transport. Not everyone, including me, is fit enough to be a cyclist or willing to show up to the office a little sweaty after a cycle into work, which is why e-scooters are such a great sustainable option of transport.

I would say to the minister: all modes of transport carry some risk, and e-scooters are no different. Maximum speeds and continuous safety improvements demonstrate a willingness by manufacturers to encourage responsible use. I would ask the minister to look to his comrades in the Queensland government for a good pathway forward in terms of regulation of e-scooters. I would also note that EPMDs – the category under the law – include new mobility vehicles catering for those with disability that currently fall outside of the law, so there is a clear and urgent need for reform. Instead of kicking the can down the road, including policy purgatory for thousands of private e-scooter owners, the Minister for Public Transport ought to chart a path for the navigation of these laws to make privately owned e-scooters and mobility vehicles a permanent feature of our great state.