‘Take them away, crush them’: Australia faces an ebike surge that some say poses a health emergency

Schoolboys on ebikes at Manly beach on Sydney’s northern beaches. In the first seven months of 2025 there were 233 injuries related to ebikes and four deaths. Photograph: Andrew Quilty

After the Sydney Harbour Bridge was swarmed by 40 or so ebikes and e-motorcycles on Wednesday, the Australian government said the country faced a “real emergency”.

“[Illegal ebikes] are a total menace on the road,” the health minister, Mark Butler, said on Friday.