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Queensland’s pending law to ban children under 16 from riding e-bikes on public roads has ignited national debate, with a Sydney mayor calling on the state government to act before the next review of the Active Transport Strategy.

Frank Carbone, Mayor of Fairfield in south-western Sydney, has been busy speaking with mainstream media outlets and his message is clear - ‘If it has a motor, it should require a licence’.

“To have the government in New South Wales and in other states allow motorised bicycles on the road for 14-year-olds to drive next to cars, trucks and buses without a licence is just unacceptable,” Carbone said.

“They don’t know the road rules, and they have no experience. If it has a motor, you should have your licence,” he added.

Carbone is critical of NSW’s decision to defer its e-bike licensing review until 2029, arguing the government should instead move immediately to require a licence for any motorised vehicle on public roads — regardless of the rider’s age.

“Instead of kicking this issue down the road like they have to 2029, they should ban anyone that doesn’t have a licence,” he said. “When you get your P’s, you can drive whatever vehicle you want on the road. By then, you’re educated, you know the laws, you’ve gone through the training.”

The mayor drew a sharp distinction between recreational cycling of his own childhood — pedalling around the neighbourhood on an analogue bike — and today’s e-bikes, which he says can travel at 50 to 60 kilometres per hour alongside traffic.

“A 14-year-old thinks he’s indestructible. That’s why we need to protect them, Carbone said.

Abraham Mikhail, e-bike retailer Flight Risk, agrees that some regulation is necessary but argues that a blanket ban misses the point.

“We need to identify what an e-motorbike is and what an e-bike is first of all, because we keep classifying anything with a battery as an e-bike,” Mikhail said.

Mikhail says bikes from his company come with built-in GPS tracking and speed controls, allowing parents to set limits on their children’s bikes remotely.

“Using technology is better than putting more bans in place,” he said.

The New South Wales government released the current Active Transport Strategy in 2022. At the time, an estimated 1.5 billion walking and cycling trips were made across the state each year, with the plan's objective to double this number within 20 years.

The next review is scheduled for 2029, but with a caveat … the final line of the current document is ‘Where needed, Transport will update the Strategy, our actions and outcomes accordingly.’