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Canterbury motorists and transport operators will pay $180.7 million more in petrol excise tax, road user charges and motor vehicle licensing feees this financial year than they will get back for building and maintaining their roads, Larry Baldock, United Future’s transport spokesman, said today.
The region’s drivers will pay $254 million to the Government this financial year, and receive just $73.3 million back for their roading requirements.
“And that is before the Government hits Canterbury motorists up for about $10 million more a year on fuel sales with the latest ACC hike,” Mr Baldock said.
“All round, that’s a very expensive ride the average motorist and transport operator is being taken on – and all this from the Government that trumpets itself as a champion of regional economic development!” he said.
New Zealand's roading infrastructure is coming under increasing pressure, as illustrated by Transit's recent announcement that Auckland will receive the bulk of the available road funding over the next decade.
“This will put many roading projects around the rest of the country on the backburner - and it doesn't fully address Auckland’s roading needs either,” he said.
“The Government is misleading the public when it says this situation is due to a lack of financial resources. The fact is that nearly every region in New Zealand pays twice as much on average for roading as they get back from the Government in actual funding.
“And recent announcements, such as the imminent ACC hike are only going to make the problem worse. The extra 2.7c per litre motorists are going to be hit with at the petrol pump for ACC will see Canterbury drivers paying the further $10 million a year on current fuel consumption levels.
“United Future isn’t against more funding for transport-related costs borne by ACC, but it should come from revenue already being collected from road users rather than yet another extra cost for motorists to bear.
“We’re calling for all the revenue collected directly from road users to be spent on roads and other transport-related expenses. The initial fiscal impact of this would be considerable, so to give the Government's finances time to adjust we think this should be phased in over a five-year period.
“This would make the roads safer for everyone, promote true regional development (rather than just a series of photo-opportunities for Jim Anderton), and boost New Zealand's GDP,” Mr Baldock said.
Ends.
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