Truckies are doing it tough
TRUCKIES HAVE BEEN THE BACKBONE of the NZ economy for the last two years while New Zealand dealt with Covid-19. Throughout all the lockdowns and the temporary setup of internal borders, truckies continued to travel the length and breadth of the country, keeping freight moving and food on the shelves.
Approximately 93 per cent of our domestic freight is moved by truckies. They are the arteries which keep our economy pumping. Yet this Labour Government is piling on more costs and implementing policies that are making it harder for our truckies and everyday Kiwis to get around.
We have the regional fuel tax, the ute tax, a proposed biofuels mandate and blanket regional speed reductions, like the ones we are seeing proposed for Northland. Worse still, some of the money raised from fuel excise and Road User Charges (RUC) is going towards rail rather than being reinvested in our state highways and regional roads.
All of these measures increase the cost of moving goods and services around the country, which in turn drives up the cost of living for Kiwis. While the Government has partially woken up to the fact that the country is facing a cost of living crisis and have reduced the amount of excise at the pump by
25c per litre, the benefit has not flowed through to people who drive diesel vehicles, with changes to RUC still to be implemented.
Unfortunately, those who drive diesel vehicles or are in the trucking industry are still waiting for the promised relief.
While the Government has subsequently announced that there will be a 36 per cent reduction in RUC rates for three months, there is no fixed date as to when this will come into effect.
National supports the temporary reduction in RUC rates for truckies and other diesel drivers who are doing it tough, but the Government need to move faster on this. With fuel prices this high, every day matters.
The RUC relief is supposed to come into force in late April, but this is not as straightforward as it seems. For example, section 85 of the Road User Charges Act requires the Government to give 42 days’ notice of any change in the RUC rates, meaning diesel vehicle owners could be waiting weeks before they get any kind of relief at the pump.
National is calling on the Government to introduce urgent legislation to Parliament to give effect to their promised reductions in RUC as quickly as possible, following the announcement on reducing excise.
The sooner these changes can be applied, the better off that truckies and the rest of the country will be. We will continue to put pressure on this Labour Government to ensure these changes are delivered swiftly to New Zealanders who are doing it tough during this cost of living crisis. T&D