Barnaby Joyce's link to how e-bikes came to be everywhere

There has been an explosion of e-bikes on Australian roads in recent years. (ABC News: Ashlin Blieshke)

When you see those swarms of illegal electric bikes popping wheelies down freeways, through the CBD, you probably don't think of former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce.

But the connection is there – and it's as strange and mysterious as it seems.

Bike rideouts have been taking over city streets as part of the Bike Life movement but bad behaviour on some of the rides have been criticised.

Just last week, a group of women on a historical walking tour were harassed by a group of teenagers riding e-bikes in Wollongong.

Earlier this year, police earlier condemned an e-bike meet-up where a group performed wheelies while on a joy ride over the Sydney Harbor Bridge, something that's also been seen in social media videos of Melbourne roads.

What have the consequences been? And what do politicians have to do with it?

"We have seen an explosion of high-powered, high-speed products that are legal to sell, but are not legal to use," said Peter Bourke, the CEO of Bicycle Industries Australia.

"They are unroadworthy motorbikes. And we've seen, unfortunately, a spike in injuries and spike in deaths because of these products."

Bans on children riding e-mobility devices are being considered by several states, but a frontline surgeon says more must be done to stop "preventable injuries".

Since 2020, there has been a rise of over 400 per cent in people arriving in Victorian emergency departments with e-bike related injuries.

There was a similar rise reported by Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital between 2023 and 2025.

A 2025 study of more than 700 young riders aged 10–25 found e-bike riders were twice as likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries as those on regular bicycles.

"The rules are really still trying to catch up," said Simon Judkins, an emergency physician and the Victorian AMA President.

"In the meantime, we're seeing more and more people having pretty tragic injuries," Dr Judkins said.

Sales of e-bikes have also been on a sharp rise — up from around 9,000 a year in 2017, to around 200,000 in 2022.

But Mr Bourke of Bicycle Industries Australia said the removal of import regulations meant the numbers didn't really tell the full story.

"One of the challenges is that the hospital data doesn't identify — was the bike safe? Was the bike compliant? Or was it really an non-compliant motorbike?"

Some e-bikes are modified to be more powerful than what is allowed. (ABC News: Ashlin Blieschke)

Mr Bourke said it was the kind of data that only emerges when