Bondi Beach, NSW
Allegra Spender is one of the ‘Teal Independents’ that swept into office at the most recent federal election.
She is the Federal Member for Wentworth, a seat previously held by two keen cyclists, Dave Sharma and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Wentworth, arguably Australia’s wealthiest electorate, covers Sydney’s eastern harbourside and beachside suburbs, including Bondi Beach. The newly restored historic Bondi Pavilion, facing the sands of Bondi Beach was the venue chosen by Allegra to run the Climate Summit 2022, a grass roots festival held on Sunday 27th November.
The summit was very well attended, including at least four cycling organisations and movements: Bike East, BetterStreets, Cycling Without Age and We Ride Australia.
As we have previously reported here, the Federal Government’s National Electric Vehicle Strategy is currently under consideration, with decisions expected some time in early 2023. Although nothing is confirmed at this stage, it’s widely expected that there will be some form of federally funded incentive for electric car ownership.
Logic would suggest that any incentive of subsidy should also be extended to e-bikes. But logic and politics don’t always intersect, as we recently saw in the US, where e-bikes missed out entirely, but huge, dangerous, city-degrading pickup trucks got even bigger subsidies than cars.
This is why building relationships with critical independents, including the Teals, is now high on cycling advocates’ agendas, and why participation at events such as the Wentworth Member’s Climate Summit is strategically important.
