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240 E‑Bikes SEIZED — But Why? · The Slippery Slope

• 0:00
  So back in May we talked about selective outrage, how the media
• 0:05
  can turn 12 E bike deaths into an existential crisis while
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  ignoring the 1324 Australians killed on our roads last year.
• 0:16
  So now Queensland police have doubled down on that narrative
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  with Operation Yankee Surety. They've seized more than 240 E
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  mobility devices in just one month and they're celebrating it
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  like they've dismantled a criminal empire.
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  But let's be honest, this isn't about safety.
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  This is about optics, revenue and political theatre.
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  Because if the government truly cared about Rd safety, they'd
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  start with the 1324 deaths and not the 12.
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  I'm Jay Fallon and this is the Slippery Slope podcast.
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  Get my straight So let's breakdown what Queensland police
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  proudly announced. Operation Yankee Surety seized
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  more than 240 E mobility devices, issued fines,
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  confiscated non compliant E bikes and scooters, and framed
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  the whole thing as a major public safety victory.
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  But look closely at the language in the article.
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  It's not about dangerous riding. It's not about reckless
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  behaviour, it's not about fatalities.
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  It's about non compliance. And non compliance is
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  bureaucratic code for revenue raising.
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  This wasn't a safety operation, it was a fundraising Dr dressed
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  up as public protection. The government didn't fix
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  infrastructure, they didn't improve bike lanes, they didn't
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  educate riders, they didn't support innovation.
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  They just seized devices and handed out fines because that's
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  easy, profitable and politically convenient.
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  So we've got these Rd deaths versus E bike deaths.
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  QLD had 12 E bike deaths last year.
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  Very very sad and unfortunate. Australia as a whole had 1324 Rd
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  deaths, 12 versus 1300. If the government was genuinely
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  concerned about public safety, they'd be launching Operation Rd
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  Surety, Operation Dangerous, Driver Crackdown or Operation
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  Stop, the real Killers. But they're not Why?
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  Because maybe it's because cars generate billions in fuel
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  excise. Ebikes generate probably next to
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  nothing. In reality, fuel excise revenue
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  last year was 15.71 billion. That's with AB 15.71 billion.
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  Over the next four years, it's projected to hit 67.6 billion.
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  OK. That's why cars get a free pass.
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  That's why E bikes get seized. That's why safety operations
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  magically target the devices that don't contribute to
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  government revenue. This isn't public safety.
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  It's selective morality driven by selective revenue.
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  We've got a government that's hostile to innovation.
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  QLD politicians love talking about reducing congestion,
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  lowering emissions or encouraging alternative
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  transport, supporting green innovation.
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  But when people actually adopt A clean, efficient, low cost form
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  of transport, suddenly it's a little bit of a problem.
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  Suddenly it's dangerous. Suddenly it needs to be
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  regulated, restricted and seized.
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  This is a government that punishes innovation while
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  protecting outdated systems that make money.
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  They want fewer cars on the road, or they say they do, but
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  they don't want fewer lower fuel excise, fuel excise dollars.
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  They want lower emissions, but not lower revenue.
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  They want cleaner transport, but only if they can tax it.
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  E bikes threaten the wrong cash flow, so they're treated like
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  contraband. This is conditioning the public
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  in my opinion. Operations like Yankee Surety do
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  something far more dangerous than confiscate ebikes.
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  They condition the public. They train people to accept more
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  enforcement, more fines, more surveillance, more compliance,
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  more government control over personal transport choices.
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  This is how freedom erodes. Not through dramatic overnight
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  changes, but through safety operations that normalise
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  government intrusion. It's the same pattern we see
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  everywhere and we've seen here before.
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  You know, exaggerate minor risk, ignore the major risk, enforce
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  compliance, and celebrate the crackdown.
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  Rinse and repeat. This is selective outrage
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  weaponized for political theatre.
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  So these are the questions I think we should all be asking
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  ourselves. These are the questions I think
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  matter. If E bikes are so dangerous,
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  what about the one 3324 Rd deaths and why aren't they the
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  priority? Is the government fighting E
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  bikes because they threaten fuel excise revenue?
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  Why does Queensland celebrate confiscating E bikes but ignore
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  the real killers on our roads? Why is innovation punished while
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  outdated systems are protected? And who benefits financially
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  from keeping people in cars, I wonder?
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  These questions, I believe, expose the hypocrisy behind the
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  crackdown. But you know, selective outrage
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  isn't new. Scripture warns us about leaders
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  who obsess over trivialities while ignoring real injustice.
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  Matthew 2324. I think I've said this before.
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  You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
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  Think of it. The government is straining out
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  E bikes, which is the gnat while swallowing the camel of 1324 Rd
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  deaths. Micah 311 says her leaders judge
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  for a bribe. Now, fuel excise isn't a bribe,
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  OK, but it is a financial incentive that shapes policy.
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  Operation Yankee Surety isn't about safety.
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  It's about optics. It's about revenue.
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  It's about pretending to solve a problem while ignoring the real
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  1. And until our leaders stop
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  swallowing camels and straining out gnats, QLD will keep
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  punishing innovation or protecting the systems that
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  profit from our dependence. As always, this is my opinion.
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  I'm Jay Fallon, and thanks for listening to the Slippery Slope
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  podcast. They just feel.