Axe the fuel tax

The government’s new fuel taxes are placing a heavy financial burden on hard-working Kiwis as they pay record prices at the pump. National believes New Zealanders should be able to keep more of what they earn, and we believe the government should help keep the cost of living down to help New Zealanders get ahead.

This government is doing the opposite. That’s why we’re calling on the government to axe its new fuel taxes, and we’ve launched a petition to help New Zealanders do the same.

The average household is now paying $200 a year more in petrol taxes than this time last year. In Auckland that figure is $324. New fuel taxes on top of record petrol prices are a major reason for that.

Since the election petrol prices have increased 42 cents a litre on average, and the costs are only going to increase as fuel prices continue to climb and the government prepares to impose even more new taxes.

There are two more excise taxes planned over the next two years, councils right around New Zealand are already asking for Auckland’s regional fuel tax to be made available nationwide, and crude oil prices are expected to continue to rise.

While the government can’t control global prices for fuel, it can control its taxes. And it’s already collecting huge amounts of tax on petrol. Every time you put $1 of fuel into your vehicle, 53 cents of that is going straight from your wallet into the government’s back pocket. The government has more money because New Zealanders have less. It thinks the answer is another inquiry. That’s fine, but it should also be providing immediate relief to New Zealanders by axing those taxes.

The deputy Prime Minister has tried to defend fuel taxes, saying 100 per cent of the hundreds of millions of dollars of fuel taxes being paid by motorists is going to roading infrastructure and maintenance. That’s simply not true. The government cut $5 billion from state highway funding and has earmarked that money to fund a tram set in Auckland.

Ordinary hardworking Kiwi families don’t need the worry of figuring out how they’re going to drive to school or get to the supermarket. But this government is pricing them out of their cars. It needs to realise it can’t keep heaping costs on to New Zealand families. It’s ramping up the cost of living and making it harder for Kiwis to get ahead.

Our petition is calling on the government to acknowledge the burden Kiwi families are facing and do something about it. It needs to cancel its new taxes.

National is committed to holding this government to account, and making sure New Zealanders get to keep more of what they earn to help them get ahead. Sign our petition to call on the government to relieve the heavy financial burden hard working Kiwis are facing at the petrol pump (www.national.org.nz/axe_the_tax/).

"Ordinary hardworking Kiwi families don’t need the worry of figuring out how they’re going to drive to school or get to the supermarket. But this government is pricing them out of their cars. "