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Following a spike in accidents and deaths, Queensland is putting new laws before parliament to crackdown on the use of ebikes. Faster, more powerful e-bikes — anything over 25km/h — will now be treated like motorbikes or mopeds, meaning they can only be ridden on the road and must be registered and insured. On footpaths, riders will have to slow right down to 10km/h, and a new offence will make it illegal to ride near pedestrians without proper care. There’s also a broader push behind the scenes, with plans to tighten rules on retailers, crack down on tampering, improve lithium battery disposal, and roll out education campaigns to try and get on top of the growing issue. Parents could also be held responsible, with fines able to be passed on if their child breaks the rules. Police are being given stronger powers too, including random breath testing, and the ability to seize and impound illegal devices on the spot, with repeat or serious cases potentially seeing bikes destroyed. There’s also a broader push behind the scenes, with plans to tighten rules on retailers, crack down on tampering, improve lithium battery disposal, and roll out education campaigns to try and get on top of the growing issue. E-wheelchair users will be exempted from these rules. Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg branded the suite of changes "nation-leading reforms". "We are banning under-16s from these devices because the safety of kids is paramount," he said. "We've taken the time to get this right, and our reforms strike the right balance between keeping Queenslanders safe from those who do the wrong thing, while backing the Queenslanders who do the right thing."

I'd really like to see what this great Australian Plan is, that One Nation has for ALL Australians in ALL States. I suspect there's no plan, except to blame immigrants for every problem that arises. Pauline Hanson is a Female Donald Trump. Says what people want to hear, but has no long-term plans, indulges in "stunts" to keep her name in the media, and picks people for her party members who have zero leadership skills, they only need to support a radical right wing agenda that focuses solely on, "too many immigrants from s***hole countries". I like going through the long list of deadbeat One Nation picks for representatives, who have turned out to be criminals, total rabbits, incompetent, geriatric, or who changed sides as soon as they were elected. And none of them, were immigrants from "s***hole countries".

One Nation would be a disaster for Australia’s interests. There would be no bright future from a right wing populist party with Pauline in charge.

It's not before time, it's been getting out of control. One of the worst areas is my local town. It's the high school kids who are the worst offenders. The police have tried a crack down but it doesn't seem to have helped much. If you go to town you really have to keep a good eye out for them as it's quite scary when you're walking along the footpath and a gang of them roar past at 30kph only inches away. I can't say I blame the kids; it's a no-brainer what will happen if you give kids what is in effect an electric motorcycle and let them ride it anywhere they like. I saw a couple of kids outside the shopping centre the other day with those big ones that have tyres the size of a Harley front wheel. There's been people killed around here, mainly the kids colliding with each other.

I'm no fan of the backroom influence held by big mining (and esp multinational interests). However, a quick websearch offers up Australian mining revenue. In the 2022-23 financial year, Australia's mining industry generated a record $455 billion in export revenue. (Aside: just imagine the profits if we turned it into steel). Big dollars indeed. But look at the ratios. Australian mining sector contributes more than half of the country's corporate tax revenue, with the industry paying approximately $65 billion in company tax and royalties for the fiscal year 2023-24. This makes mining the largest taxpayer in Australia, At risk of oversimplifying, they collectively paid about 14% tax. I wish I had that tax rate on my pay packets!

I do think these people and company's do need to pay there fair share of tax though which appears not to be happening.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/24/one-nation-pauline-hanson-integrity-she-breaks-rules-ntwnfb 5 undeclared gifted flights in 6 months. If this were a member of Labor or the LNP you could hear the usual suspects frothing about the "corrupt major parties". Yep she's just an honest Aussie battler, isn't she!

Digging holes in the ground? Mining today is one of the most high tech activities in industry. Knowing where to dig, how to dig and doing it safely involves all sorts of expertise.

U.S President Donald Trump suggested Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was the first to advocate military intervention against Iran, telling a Tennessee roundtable: “Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up, and you said, ’Let’s do it because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.’” The Iran war enters its fourth week with conflicting administration accounts about decision-making. Some officials claim Israel was preparing to strike regardless, while others cite Iran’s nuclear threat. Trump said Iran’s retaliatory strikes were unexpected, contradicting reports that internal warnings were issued but ignored. The conflict has killed 13 American service members and caused a regional crisis. Trump extended his Monday deadline for Iran by five days, with uncertainty about how the war began and who ultimately decided to start it. The war began with US strikes in late February and expanded across the region, with over 1,500 killed in Iran, 1,000 in Lebanon, 15 in Israel, and 13 US personnel.

When we were paying 17% on the home loan we did not eat out ever, didn’t go out for coffee, turned out the lights in empty rooms, and bought a second hand car. It wasn’t hard, we were just as happy.

And adopt a righty mindset? Well mate, I hope you're not on a state pension as that will eat into their sponsor's profits, so you can expect that to be eroded.. and any of the local services you get will probably come under the knife, too. Health? Privatise the lot. You don't have to look too far to see what is likely to happen.

Kleptocracy is the Name for it I Believe. Left to their devices they will reduce you to Slaves. Everywhere Less and less people have More and More. and that is how it will be IF WE don't do something about it . Nev

I think we are seeing the same sort of thing with an industrial farm in NSW. more to come.

Yep it's TACO Tuesday. Just another one to add to the list. 4 Corners was interesting last night. It just confirmed that the billionaires club is running the US & to hell with the people so long as they continue to profit in ever increasing amounts.

They want them defunded. How come you Know all these details GON? Murdoch's wanted rid of them for years. The ABC meets fairness standards by a mile and runs lots of utter rubbish SKY stuff. Most ABC people have just about given up with the ABC canning Labor. It's chock full of Ex Murdoch personalities. Of Course I doubt you would ever acknowledge that. You are A Trump person through and through although It's becoming Increasingly more difficult to justify that. I'm pretty sure you will never change. Nev

Occupy Democrats FB post: Here’s all the INSANE things Trump said today in just ONE press conference today: Said his idea to put ICE in the airports was "like the paper clip? Do you know the story of the paper clip? 182 years ago, a man discovered the paper clip” (it was invented 127 years ago) Said he’s deploying ICE to airports to make Democrats “go crazy” and arrest “illegals” at the airport (he means tourists) Said talks with Iran went “perfectly” (Iran says no talks happened) Said “it's a dangerous business” in response to the plane crash at La Guardia that killed two people Attacked Joe Kent for remarrying too quickly after his wife was murdered by ISIS (this is false) Said the Strait of Hormuz will be controlled by “maybe me” and “maybe the ayatollah” Floated bringing in the National Guard to work TSA Said the military should still get $200 billion if the war ends because it’s “nice to have it” Excused lifting sanctions on Iranian oil by saying “I just want to have as much oil in the system as possible” Said that Iran had agreed to “15” points and then said points 1,2, and 3 were “no nuclear weapons) This is all ONE presser! His brain is complete mush, and we cannot continue allowing a man who is clearly this demented remain in office.

A related story. https://7news.com.au/news/bossley-park-motorbike-crash-two-teenagers-killed-after-mayors-calls-for-bike-safety-at-infamous-intersection-in-sydneys-west--c-22037672

Yep, and should be registered as a motorbike and require a licence and insurance in my view.. The vast majority of Ebikes and riders are safe and legal. I strongly support the law being applied. There are ebikes out there where it is difficult to tell which side of the law they are on, but the one above is quite clear.

Probably about as well as Day 1. Iran said they were surprised to learn they were apparently in talks with Trump. As the last two round of negotiations resulted in them being bombed during the talks, they won't be keen to try again. Now he's set another deadline of 5 days or else! Meaning if the Iranians ignore him again, he'll be forced to set another deadline.

I recall a couple of months ago driving up a main suburban street at around 55kph, and a young bloke on an e-bike was keeping pace with me, riding up the footpath on the back wheel only. Some houses along there had hedges, and if an elderly person came out of a gateway, I hate to imagine the result.

It is interesting that mostly there are not loads of kids riding illegal motorbikes on the streets (although it does happen occasionally). I guess the thing with Ebikes is there is this slippery slope. If I can ride a 250-watt bike, then why not a 300-watt bike, which can easily lead to 750watts and more. I think these bigger bikes should be available, but on the same basis as a motorcycle, because that is what they are. A young person on a fast Ebike must be dealt with in the same manner as a young person riding a motorbike. Something that can travel at 100kph is a vehicle and should require a licence and rego. I also think that safety standards for some of these powerful bikes should be enforced.

The final preferenced result won't be known until Saturday. One nation has one lower house seat called by different outlets, but I don't think it's official. They're ahead in three others, but I think of those three, only Hammond will get up for them. It's a ON against Labor contest with the sitting Liberal knocked out. ON has a good lead over Labor at this stage and they'll pick up Liberal preferences. In the other two, ON is ahead of Liberals in the number two position, but only just. Labor and Green preferences will flow to the Liberals ahead of ON, so I can see the Libs gaining those seats.

That's the thing, they're sold legally with a motor capable of those speeds but by law have to have a speed limiter. It doesn't seem very hard for the kids to get their hands on a black market chip to override that limitation. If kids under 16 are totally banned from riding them in public it would negate a lot of that. I think back to when I was 13 or 14 and how great it would have been if your parents bought you something like that and let you loose with it. That's why I don't blame the kids fror the temptation; I would have done the same thing at their age, hotted it up to go as fast as possible.

I think these bikes (which are illegal) could probably be made legal with adequate regs, more like a motorbike. I believe at the moment 250watts is the limit for road use. I think that a bike that does 100 kp is a motor vehicle and should be regulated as such.

I think some of them can get speeds up to 100kph with illegal chips, if the motor is big enough to do it.

As a regular e-bike rider, I think there may be a case for sensible regulation. There are many e-bikes that are very fast and powerful, and at this stage, not even legal. I think there could be a use for these bikes, but we just have to work out a way of making them compatible with other traffic and pedestrians. Micro transport has many benefits for a city. The majority of bike riders, electric or not, are taking a vehicle off the road for that particular journey. When I ride to my local supermarket, which has limited parking, someone else can park in my car park. On a recent walk around Melbourne CBD, I noted how many delivery bikes were on the roads. Each one of these is likely displacing a car or motorcycle. There can be friction between the different travellers, but we just need to work out sensible rules to coexist. I regularly ride on Rail Trails, which are shared between bikes, walkers and sometimes horses; it seems to work well. E-bikes are a relatively new technology. We need to sensibly work out how to use them and not throw the baby out with the bathwater, and we definitely don't want to turn it into a culture war.

Tax is pad on profits, not gross sales revenue .

Putting kids on e bikes on the road or footpaths puts people in hospital

People look for an easy answer and don't Look or Think very Hard . What are HER Policies? She's Never been Interviewed at depth or addressed the Press Council in 30 years Murdoch Press is in Love with her. People should question why that is. One reason is she will abolish SBS and the ABC and no doubt anything else Rupee desires. Nev

She is in the enviable position, to paraphrase el Chumpo, she could walk down Ann street in Brissie and shoot someone and no one would care. There is so much disenchantment with the poltical establishment, that a vagabond to that establishment has got sort of Ned Kelly status. As the article says, you can't attack PHON at the moment. Well, you can, but you do so at your political peril. It's the same here with Farage and BoJo when he was in power. If it were up to the people, BoJo woudl still be PM. This larrakin like approach to politics is winning over the disenfranchised, and like a lot of people who's values/agenda are corrected by fact, they tend to ignore the fact, or interpret it in a way that confirms their bias. The rebellion is starting, I guess.

So what we are saying is we need some politicians with balls to think long term about the future of Australia and not just about the next election. So yes our present system is a con. Having said that I would rather it then some of the alternatives. She kind of does pay for it indirectly. Most of these people she employs pay a lot of tax and again at least she is Australian and supports other things. More than would happen if she was an overseas company.

Yes One Nation just did OK, quite encouraging. We should urge them on to bring about a bright future for all Australians in all States.

No, we don't need massive change. Massive change is disruptive and hurts many people. Unintended consequences are greater in size and impact. Australia is a well functioning democracy. Are there things we can improve? Definitely. Are massive changes required? No.

As bad as complacency is, One nation is worse. Trump is a protest vote. Look how that's going.

But, it is OK to bag, but I also prefer to offer some solutions. This has previously been discussed on these forums. but a couple from memory: Ban political donations more than a de minimis amount from one controlling person/group (to make it hard to create 100 cmpanies and each of them contribute a seaparate donation to the limit). Maybe restrict it to living people rather than corporations. I would personally advocate a ban on lobbying groups and companies. If you have something to say to the government, it can be done through a public forum where everyone gets to hear it and scrutinise it. And contribute to it. If not point 2, ban parliamentarians from lobbying or representing/being emeployed by firms in any official or real capacity that involves communication - directly or indirectly - with the government. Period. No cooling off periods, etc. Aussie media regulator, ACMA, being given real teeth over both mainstream and social media, which must have independence, legally trained/accomplished people adjudicating, where they can impose real consequences/punishment for intentionally misleading the public. Those impacted can appeal through the court systems if they want. Of course, paid advertorials that are clearly labelled as such would be exempt, however, if the publisher reasonably had facts that rebuke such advertorials, then they have to state this prominently either before or after ther advertorial. A new "offence" is intrroduced of high public misconduct (there is a public misconduct charge which is applying a damp wetted to the wrist very softly). For this, the bar should be recklessness in its criminal definition( foresaw the consequences that are likely to happen, didn't want them to happen, but went ahead with the action anyway) or intention. In other words simple incompetence or even negligence do not count. So, unless the polly clearly states the likely outcome of their policy, and it results in an absurd and large cost to Australians and the benefit promised doesn't materialise, they can be held liable, with the punishment being they and their controilling interests (so, for example, not hiding assets with a partner or company or whatever) can be held finalcially responsible (i.e. having to pay what they can back). The above offence would automatically include acting on prohibited lobbying. I am sure I could think of many more things, but I bet with the above, there would be far more transparent and hopefully logical and rational decisions made in the best interests of the country as a whole.

Oh, well let's see that the MAGA Master of name calling does: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump Yet the minute someone offends his sensibilities, he is on the line to defamation lawyers. Now, who else has been on the line to defamation lawyers when people call her names? I reserve the right to bag anyone I think is not doing the right thing - that is a cherished right of freedom of speech... But I won't bag them without at least there being evidence to do so, unlike others aforementioned. @Siso - We all get your argument - she is playing within the rules so bag the pollies for not changing the rules and not the ones playing within the rules. If life were that black and white, it would be a better place. But the reality she and her ilk have resources and access to disproportionately bend the wilingness of the rule makers to their aims and objectives and they are not afraid to use it. Yep - she employs a lot of people, directly and indirectly. But she couldn't without all the other infrastructure that is in place from roads to education to provide those people she emplys. Yet, she is not willing to pay for it. When proposal for rule chnages are made to even up the playing field, she is in there pulling no stops to make sure those rules don't see the light of day, let alone get passed. So, too are her ilk; Palmer comes to mind, but all the faceless corporation heavyweights - ironically those owned by foreign investors.. The one thing is at least Gina's companies are Aussie owned. You can sit through the "well, she is playing by the rules, so blame the pollies as they can change the rules." Yes, in theory, but the backlash Gina and her ilk can unleash means pollies are very well constrained in what they can do. And the billionaires aren't the only ones. We had the BLF, and today we have the CMFEU (or whatever); Good ol' Jacinta Allan seems to be in their back pocket. Hard for her to change the rules to be more fair when her sponsors (and in her case, her husband) are calling shots behind the curtain.

Yes Gina does employ lots of ordinary Australians, both directly in the extraction of minerals, but also by those backroom people who support the miners. Don't forget the tooth-to-tail ratio of the military also applies to the support requirements of Gina's miners. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooth-to-tail_ratio You can't attack her for not contributing to the economic condition of us all, as you cannot attack the CEO' of ColesWorths for what they do. Pauline is a different fish. She is influencing people by bolstering their bigotry. She uses what all political Parties have been using for the past few decades- the simple slogan that is supposed to express a truth but which is mostly devoid of practical meaning. What exactly does "Make America Great Again" mean? Labor's "It's Time" had more meaning in its contemporary context. One Nation does not seem to have much to say about anything other than immigration and its racial effects. One Nation may say that Middle Eastern, Asian, Pacific Islander immigrants have greatly altered what being an Australian is, but the elephant in the room is the cultural immigration of the USA. And One Nation seems to be all for sidling up to Uncle Sam at the expense of relations with countries who had influence on mqaking an Australian in our formative years.

SBS would certainly be criticized and something done about them, but the ABC will be left intact and asked to drop their lefty progressive mindset.