Auckland to get double-up share of petrol tax increase

By AUDREY YOUNG political editor

Auckland will get only its share of the increase in petrol tax due to be announced next week - but the Government will match it dollar for dollar, Finance Minister Michael Cullen told Parliament yesterday.

Dr Cullen was responding to New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who asked why petrol tax should be increased when Transfund, which pays for new roads, had finished its last year with a $225 million surplus.

"Is this this not plain daylight robbery so the Government can finance some of its other whacko projects?" Mr Peters asked.

Dr Cullen: "I am sure some of this increased tax will be paid at night as well, but passing beyond that, it is equally clear that if there is any change in excise duty, only the proportion that is due to Auckland in terms of its population will go to Auckland.

"The rest will go to the rest of the country, and the Auckland share will be matched by the Government."

The Government is planning to announce measures next Thursday to pay for a 10-year programme to help meet Auckland's roading demands. One of the measures will be an increase in petrol tax.

Dr Cullen said the Government collected $1481 million a year from taxes, duties, licence fees, and levies for road construction, maintenance and road safety.

Petrol tax is 18.5c a litre. The Cabinet is likely to approve an increase - expected to be between 5c and 6c a litre - next Monday.

Transfund chief executive Wayne Donnelly was criticised by suspended National MP Maurice Williamson at a parliamentary select committee yesterday for the $225 million surplus.

Anyone sitting in a traffic queue in the Grafton Gully would not be able to understand it.

Mr Donnelly said the surplus was allocated money which had not been spent for reasons including increased revenue, the slowing down of projects because of delays in getting consent, and delays in acquiring properties.

He agreed with National MP Gerry Brownlee that Auckland's problems could cost $8 billion to $9 billion to fix, but he did not believe New Zealand had the building capacity to tackle more than $400 million worth in a year.