01 March 2005

Rise In Petrol Tax Absurd Says Brown

New Zealand First transport spokesperson Peter Brown says the Government’s continuing hike in petrol tax is an absolute absurdity and a movement based on greed.

“The Government’s decision to go ahead with the 5 cents-a-litre rise in petrol tax from April means that petrol prices are hitting a new high for New Zealanders, despite a $4.5 billion surplus.

“It is the fourth unnecessary increase in petrol levies since Labour came to power in 1999,” said Mr Brown.

“The windfall tax rate has done nothing to curb the Government’s desire to continually hit motorists with increasing fuel costs to fund their various projects – many of which aren’t even road-related!

“While the Government has been blaming high crude oil prices for the tax increases, less than half of that tax revenue collected is actually being spent on essential transport infrastructure and road safety activities.

"Motorists must be so frustrated because the solution is simple, and New Zealand First has been saying this for some time.

“In 1998 we started a process of reducing the proportion of road taxes going into the Crown account. That process would have seen the full amount available for roading within ten years but was stopped by National.

“It should be re-activated to ensure that all petrol tax is used to develop our transport infrastructure and put an end to crippling petrol prices,” concluded Mr Brown.

ENDS

© Scoop Media