The Government will deliver another slap in the face to motorists tomorrow when it adds another 4c per litre to the cost of fuel, National’s Transport spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

“Motorists are suffering under this Government. The tax hikes it has passed into law amount to a $1.7 billion tax grab, with Aucklanders the hardest hit because of their regional fuel tax.

The Government introduced three years of annual 4c increases to petrol excise duty and road user charges in early 2018, signalling at the time that the revenue would largely be spent a multi-billion dollar light rail line in Auckland.

“Tomorrow’s four cent hike will sting the most after this clumsy and incompetent Government axed its shambolic light rail plans last week,” Mr Bishop says.

“Motorists deserve a break, particularly given the economic pain caused by the Government’s lockdown. Now that light rail is dead, tomorrow’s fuel tax grab shouldn’t happen either.

“The fact this tax grab is going ahead is a clear signal that Labour’s plan for the next three years will be to repay the massive debt it’s taking on with more tax.

“National believes the tax increase should be deferred until motorists get some quality transport infrastructure in return.

“Not only will National deliver the transport infrastructure that New Zealanders want and deserve, we will also repeal the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax when we get into Government and we won’t introduce any new taxes in our first term.”

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