Placing a fuel tax on Aucklanders could end up hurting the rest of the country with oil companies having the say on who pays for the tax, National Party transport spokesperson Simon Bridges says.
Yesterday, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced Aucklanders will pay 10 cents or more per litre in fuel taxes to fund the government's transport infrastructure plan, once the law is changed to allow the introduction of a regional fuel tax.
This plan includes starting the $3 billion light rail link to Auckland Airport from the city.
The specifics of how the 10 cent charge at the pump will be funneled back into the council's coffers to use on infrastructure is a question Mr Bridges told 1 NEWS NOW he would like the new government to answer.
"I'm working on the assumption they'll probably do it through effectively empowering legislation, [which would] empower Auckland Council to imply a regional tax and that will be directly passed on to the oil companies and so on and they would pass it on to consumers."
Mr Bridges says regional fuel tax has been done in the past and proved to be ineffective.
"We saw this in the early 1990s when we had a form of regional fuel tax in some of our centres - the oil companies rather than passing the costs on to that region they spread it.
"From a consumer perspective tax wasn't regional and you end up having the same tax applied at the pump all over New Zealand.
"The regions didn't like that then and I don’t think they will now if they feel like they're paying for other areas to get an advantage."
Forget property, the new Auckland obsession could be dodging the fuel tax.
However, Auckland Mayor Phil Goff believes the fuel tax will be effective and cheap to administer.
"It will help ensure that Auckland can pay its share of the nearly $27 billion expenditure on transport infrastructure over the next 10 years," he said yesterday.
"It will also allow for more intensive housing development around transport hubs bringing economic benefits to those suburbs it travels through."
Have your say on Auckland fuel tax here.
For curing Auckland city’s traffic woes, Mr Bridges says locals shouldn’t get their "hopes up" that the government's plan will solves their congestion issues.
"If you're in east Auckland, if you're in deep south Auckland, if you're in other parts of Auckland, north Auckland for example, you don’t get anything out of these quite limited proposals.
"It's going to be very destabilising for the infrastructure provided in Auckland and New Zealand. It's a period of real uncertainty for them.
"This isn't an answer to the infrastructure issues New Zealand's got."
National Party transport spokesperson Simon Bridges says lower income families will feel the effects of Auckland’s fuel tax.
Fuel tax will hurt the poor in Auckland
As for those on lower incomes in Auckland, Mr Bridges believes the tax will hit them the hardest in the pocket.
"It seems really strange logic for a new Labour/Greens/NZ First government who seem rightly concerned, as we all are about issues of poverty and so on and looking at ways to alleviate it, to give on the one hand but then take on the other and of course this is regressive.
"It won't mean too much to the wealthy but for those who can least afford it, it will hit them the most."
However, Labour disputes that, saying many families across the country pay more for their petrol than Aucklanders do due to the fluctuating price of fuel nation and worldwide.
A spokesperson for Labour says the government's new families package will help cover the cost of a fuel tax in Auckland.
A spokesperson for the Mayor says Mr Goff will meet with Mr Twyford to discuss the timeline for the tax implementation timeline and how it is applied as the government sets the legislation.
Mr Twyford says Aucklanders can expect the fuel tax to be introduced within "four to five months" time.
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