Petrol tax and road user charges to increase

The Government will increase petrol excise duty by three cents a litre on 1 July 2013, 1 July 2014 and 1 July 2015, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says.

Road user charges will also be increased by an equivalent amount.

Mr Brownlee says the increases are required to deliver the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme and other roading projects to the timeline set out in the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport Funding 2012.

“Excise increases in recent years have helped maintain the real value of the Land Transport Fund.

“These latest increases will also achieve that, and allow for continuing investment in the Government’s state highway building programme and other transport projects.

“In particular the guaranteed funding stream delivered by the increases has allowed the NZ Transport Agency to confirm it will begin work on four projects in the 2013/14 financial year: the Rangiriri and Tamahere-Cambridge sections of the Waikato Expressway, the Mackays to Peka Peka section of the Wellington Northern Corridor (subject to the granting of regulatory consents) and the four-laning of the Groynes to Sawyers Arms (Johns Road) section of the Western Corridor in Christchurch (subject to the granting of regulatory consents).

“We have considered innovative ways to deliver the RoNS programme, agreeing to the procurement of Wellington’s Transmission Gully project through a public-private partnership and asking the NZ Transport Agency to investigate tolling the route,” Mr Brownlee says.

“The series of July increases will also ready the Fund for investment in upper North Island transport projects beyond the RoNS programme.”

Amendments to the Customs and Excise Act 1996 and the Road User Charges (Rates) Regulations 2012 will be required to enable the series of increases. New road user charges rates will be published at least six weeks prior to the increase.

“The Government is keen to keep overall costs down for households and business. The cost of living, as measured by consumer inflation, is at a 13-year low and interest rates are at 50-year lows.

“This announcement allows businesses and motorists to plan for the increases,” Mr Brownlee says.

“Any further proposed increases in petrol excise duty and road user charges from 2016 onwards will be considered by Cabinet on a case-by-case basis.”

For more information on the above projects visit www.nzta.govt.nz