The Sustainable Household Scheme is an excellent initiative, providing Canberrans with no-interest loans of up to $15,000 to help reduce their climate emissions. Loans are currently available for solar panels, batteries and efficient electric appliances. Loans will be available soon for electric vehicles. But E-bikes are not yet included.
When questioned by Jo Clay MLA and Andrew Braddock MLA in today’s Estimates hearing, the Chief Minister explained that E-bikes might be added in future, but there were no immediate plans to include them.
“For many Canberrans, the dream of buying an E-bike is out of reach,” said ACT Greens spokesperson for active transport, Jo Clay MLA. “E-bikes start at $2000. That’s a lot of money for a student or someone on JobSeeker.
“The Sustainable Household Scheme is supposed to support people to make greener choices. It can also help people save on household costs. We need to do this as part of our just transition to a safer climate. We need to bring everyone along on the journey.
“Weekly transport costs and the upkeep of a car are expensive. But an E-bike can replace a car and allow bike riders to travel further and faster in comfort and at the time of their choosing.
“If E-Bikes were included in the scheme, repayments would be as little as $20 a month for a $2000 bike. By contrast, if you took out a bank loan for an E-bike, you might pay an extra $600 worth of interest. We should not force people into private loans. We should help everyone make environmentally sound choices.
“Around 60% of our current emissions come from transport. But we are not spending enough on the active transport and behaviour change we need to address our car dependency.
“We have a climate action budget of $63 million. Why can’t we include loans for $2,000 Ebikes? E-bikes reduce emissions, but they do so much more. They reduce city congestion, they reduce parking pressure and they increase active transport. They are a fantastic option for commuting to and from work without the need for end of ride change facilities.
“The Greens have been calling for the ACT Government to support E-bikes since the ACT election. We are still asking for it. When will E-bikes be included in the scheme?
“E-bikes have transformed cities abroad and it’s time we back them on our homeground. We need to get people off fossil fuels and onto our 100% renewable electricity as fast as possible.”
