Fact-check: Did Nicola Willis really tell people to save on fuel by putting less stuff in the boot?

Monday, 16 March 2026

Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ advice to families struggling with rising fuel prices is to put less stuff in the boot of the car.

At least that’s according to the Labour Party, which took to social media to decry the Government’s response to the global fuel crisis on Monday.

In a 14-second clip posted on the party’s social media pages, Willis was shown saying to reporters: “New Zealanders are sensible. I think most Kiwis understand if you’ve got less stuff in the back of your car, you don’t need much petrol. If you don’t drive as fast, you don’t need as much petrol. If you want you can carpool with a neighbour. They don’t need me giving them a lesson on that.”

With prices for 91 rising as high as $3.159 already, that doesn’t seem like the most helpful response.

But is it true? Did the finance minister really advise people to drive slower and carry less to ride out this conflict in the Middle East?

Let’s take a look.

Technically, the quote attributed to Willis above is accurate. But it has been taken out of context.

In a 45-minute economic update provided to reporters on Monday, Willis was asked whether she would advise people to “ease back on the accelerator” or consider working from home amid the rising fuel prices.

In response, Willis said she was “very reluctant to adopt the role of the schoolma’am telling people what to do with their own lives”.

“People will make their own choices. People’s circumstances vary considerably. Their budgets vary considerably. Their needs vary considerably. Their work obligations, their family obligations vary considerably. People are mindful, and New Zealanders are sensible,” she said.

She then went on to note the facts stated above.

But was it advice?

Willis said the National Fuel Plan, released in 2024, does provide for “public information campaigns to support New Zealanders to better understand their choices about how they could, through their own actions, reduce fuel use”.

But no such campaign has been launched yet - although Willis acknowledged it could be done if needed down the line.

Instead, she said the Government is in the early stages of the National Fuel Plan - with any further mitigations, if needed at all, at least three to four weeks away.

The Labour Party has stood by their post. In fact, they’ve tripled down on the message.

A text post went up first, in the early afternoon.

“Nicola Willis has confirmed National will provide no support to Kiwis struggling with rising prices. … Willis’ advice to families struggling at the pump: put less stuff in your boot,” it read.

Then came the 14-second clip on social media.

Afterwards, at a press conference on Monday afternoon, Labour’s finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said, “What New Zealanders heard today was that the Government is not going to do anything to provide cost of living support for New Zealanders. It was quite disappointing to hear that her advice was to drive a bit slower, put less things in the boot of the car.”

Asked by Stuff whether this messaging could be seen as disingenuous given the context, Edmonds said it could not.

“Well then, why provide that advice?” she responded. “She didn’t have to comment on it. She could have just said, ‘It’s not my place to provide that advice’.”

Edmonds said that Willis has been too slow in her response to the crisis, noting the Iran conflict has been going for two weeks and Willis “hasn’t taken a paper to Cabinet yet”.

Willis said on Monday that there will be a point when the Government will consider helping struggling households, in a way that will be “timely, temporary and targeted”.

While she said that time will come when fuel prices are “putting acute cost of living pressures on households”, she would not elaborate on how high fuel prices will have to get first.

But according to Edmonds, we are already there.

“I’ve been that South Auckland mother who has had to make a choice between a power bill or fuel or food,” she said. “I know that when you need relief, you need it then and there.”

Willis said it was “disappointing to see Labour intentionally misleading Kiwis right when people deserve clear information”.

“As I explicitly said, I’m very reluctant to tell people what choices to make in their own lives,” she said. “Perhaps Labour should consider taking a more principled approach and put the gutter politics on hold for a while.”