Petrolvehicle levy ‘a tax on the poor’

WELLINGTON: The Government has been warned it will be the poor who will bear the brunt of any levy placed on imported petrol vehicles.

The Government is weighing up the levy at the moment and Climate Change Minister James Shaw said it could be used to help offset the cost of electric vehicles.

‘‘You know what we all know, right, is that electric vehicles are a lot cheaper to run because they are roughly about a third of the price per kilometre for the electricity cost versus petrol.

‘‘They’re a lot cheaper to maintain because they have fewer moving parts, but the upfront cost of the vehicle is prohibitive,’’ Mr Shaw told RNZ.

Under the proposed freebate scheme, vehicle importers would pay a fee for bringing in a fossil fuel car, or receive a rebate for an electric or lowemission vehicle.

But National’s transport spokesman, JamiLee Ross, said the proposed levy would hit people at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum hard.

‘‘It would effectively be a tax on the poor. You’d see the poorest New Zealanders who are purchasing secondhand Japanese imports having to pay the levy which would go towards subsidising electric vehicles for those who are more likely to be wealthier, and more likely to be able to purchase an electric vehicle.’’

‘‘I’d encourage this government to continue with what National did by exempting roaduser charges, I’d encourage them to continue to purchase more electric vehicles as a government.’’

Act New Zealand leader David Seymour said a levy would be going too far. Electric vehicles were already massively subsidised because they did not pay petrol tax and they also received preferential treatment in highoccupancy vehicle lanes, he said. — RNZ