PUMP IT UP
Fuel prices in Auckland will rise by 11.5 cents a litre from July 1.
‘ These types of fuel taxes hit the poorest families the most.’ — Cr Fa’anana Efeso Collins
The AA calculates that drivers with mediumsized cars will pay an extra $145.10 a year. Auckland Council says the money is part of a massive 10-year plan with the Government to cut congestion and improve public transport. But some councillors say the new tax will hurt low-income communities.
The regional fuel tax will cost the average Auckland motorist an extra $145 a year. As the Auckland Council passed the hotly debated measure yesterday, the Automobile Association (AA) warned of a potential backlash if consumers didn’t see that extra money quickly put to use to fix the city’s worsening traffic woes.
The debate also revealed a north/ south divide as councillors representing South Auckland voiced concerns about the impact of the 11.5c a litre price hike on their constituents.
Councillors voted yesterday by 13 votes to 7 to introduce the tax on July 1, which petrol companies said would be immediately passed on to motorists.
Further increases will follow when the Government increases the national fuel excise by 3-4c a litre later this year, the first of three annual increases.
“The council and the Government are asking for a lot from Aucklander motorists,” the AA’s Auckland transport spokesman Barney Irvine said.
“The onus is now on the council and the Government to start delivering results.”
Irvine and his AA colleague Mark Stockdale calculated the regional fuel tax would add an extra $126 for motorists in a medium-sized vehicle travelling 14,000km a year, which uses about 1262 litres of fuel.
GST, which boosts the increase from 10c a litre to 11.5c, means the annual petrol cost estimate climbs to $145 for the average user.
Those driving cars with larger engines would be hit harder by the tax, as would those forced to commute longer distances.
Irvine warned the public mood will turn “really dark” if Auckland motorists didn’t see any tangible benefits from the regional fuel tax by year’s end.
“I don’t think anyone’s very happy about having to pay more at the pump but I think most Aucklanders would look at this and say, ‘ Okay, if it’s going to help improve the transport system I’m prepared to pay for it, albeit grudgingly’.”
Big projects would obviously take longer, but Irvine wanted to see small improvements like smart traffic lights and adjustable median barriers implemented within six months.
Further concerns emerged yesterday about the effect of the tax on Auckland’s poorest residents.
Despite a decisive number of councillors voting in favour of the tax, the issue caused angst among four councillors representing socially deprived suburbs in South Auckland.
Manukau councillor Alf Filipaina voted for the tax but said his people could not see the benefits.
“Public transport is still an issue and not an opportunity for our people because it is not going to the jobs they have to.”
His colleague in Manukau, Efeso Collins, and Manurewa-Papakura councillors Daniel Newman and Sir John Walker voted against the tax.
Collins said he understood the council wanted to progress transport issues, but when people were “below zero this is taking food off people’s tables”.
Newman — the only councillor to support higher rates to fund transport — described the tax as a “wholesale redistribution of wealth from some of our poorest blue collar workers who have the least transport choice to fund much of the infrastructure to serve those people who enjoy the greatest wealth. That is not fair and I will not vote for it,” he said.