15-cent petrol tax rise 'ridiculous' says Clark

11.45am

Prime Minister Helen Clark said today raising petrol tax by 15 cents a litre to help solve Auckland's transport problems would be "ridiculous" but she is not ruling out an increase of some sort.

Helen Clark said the Auckland mayors' forum was talking to ministers and officials about ways to fund improvements to the system and they would "come up with something" next month.

The 15c per litre increase has been floated as a way to raise cash to fix Auckland's gridlocked road system, although Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Transport Minister Paul Swain have both said it is not an option.

Helen Clark said that 15c was "ridiculous in my opinion" but she couldn't rule out that there might have to be some more money.

"There may well be government cash as well. We're looking at every option at the moment." she said on Newstalk ZB radio.

Dr Cullen told Parliament last week that money raised to help Auckland would not be spent solely on roads, because roading alone was not a sustainable solution.

Helen Clark voiced a similar opinion today.

"It's partly about roads, it's partly about buses, it's partly about improving the train service," she said.

"It's about people using alternative transport."

The Green Party, which strongly supports public transport, has been involved in drafting recent transport legislation passed by Parliament but the Prime Minister said the party had not captured the debate.

"They've got a valid point of view in getting as many people not driving a car to work as possible," she said.

"For some there's no alternative."

- NZPA