Auckland Council votes to send 11.5 cent a litre regional fuel tax for public consultation

Monday, 30 April 2018

Auckland Council has voted to open a public consultation process on an Auckland-wide fuel tax. 

On Monday, Auckland Council's governing body voted in favour of the consultation over the proposed Regional Fuel Tax (RFT) of 11.5 cents per litre for a maximum of 10 years. 

The tax, which would raise about $150 million a year or $1.5 billion over the next decade, would be applied to petrol and diesel.

Its purpose would be to assist in funding a raft of transport infrastructure projects including a light rail network, bus services and road safety improvements. 

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Only two out of 15 councillors, Greg Sayers and Sharon Stewart, opposed the motion. Councillors Ross Clow, Lee Walker, and Dick Quax were absent.  

The levy if agreed to wold be implemented by July 1. 

The consultation process will start on Tuesday and run for two weeks.

Legislation allowing the tax is currently making its way through parliament, with the Land Transport Management Amendment Bill having its first reading in March.  

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said to raise the equivalent amount of money without  the RFT, rates would have to be increased from 13 per cent to 14 per cent. 

A 11.5 cents a litre, including GST, charge on fuel was fairer with payments related to how much the transport system was used, Goff said.

Without the tax, Auckland would be able to do little more than fund the operation and renewal of existing projects which had already been committed to, he said.

'The expenditure made possible by the RFT will meet the cost of transport infrastructure across all forms of transport, benefiting the entire Auckland region.'

An additional fuel levy of nine to 12 cents per litre over the next three years was also being considered by the Government. 

If both are introduced Auckland motorists would be expected to pay upwards of 20c per litre more for petrol.

The fuel tax will now be presented for public consultation ending May 14.

The vote comes as the national debate over the regional fuel tax heats up.

On Monday morning National leader Simon Bridges promised to repeal the legislation if elected in 2020.

'A National government under me will invest heavily in transport – as a former Transport Minister I know how important it is, and how frustrating it can be when the system doesn't work – but we won't be using a regional fuel tax to do so,' Bridges said.

'The tax is not needed, the enforcement is complicated, and it will hit you in the back pocket.'

While the Government has promised the tax will only be levied on Aucklanders this term, the legislation allows other councils to apply for permission to levy it themselves.

Bridges said this meant Auckland would just be the start.

'Already Christchurch is saying it wants it,' he said.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford said vital transport projects such as Mill Rd and Penlink would need to be scrapped if National got its way and repealed the RFT. 

'Our Government is giving Auckland the certainty of a fully-funded transport infrastructure programme over the next 10 years that will create a congestion-free network, and unlock the enormous growth and wealth creation potential of our largest city,' he said. 

'Simon Bridges would pull the plug on the largest civil engineering project in New Zealand's history just to score cheap political points in the middle of a by-election.'

A Colmar Brunton poll found 52 per cent of Aucklanders supported the tax while 43 per cent opposed it.

But National has argued that based on public submissions more Aucklanders are opposed to the tax than are for it - and that the polling is out of date because it concluded before the Government indicated it would raise nation-wide fuel taxes as well.

The polling was conducted between February 22 and April 4. The draft Government Policy Statement, which indicated the 12c a litre hike over three years, was released on April 3.

However the submission process also ended before the draft statement was released.

Of the 21,000 people who submitted on the plan, 48 per cent opposed the plan while 46 per cent supported it.

Over 3500 of those responses were 'pro forma' - built on form letters provided by lobby groups - including 2842 from the Auckland Ratepayers Alliance and 840 from Generation Zero.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the council had voted to adopt the RFT.