Critics fear $1 litre petrol rise

The Automobile Association and the Road Transport Forum yesterday accused the Government of trying to slip through its draft transport strategy, which they said could raise petrol taxes by up to $1 a litre.

The strategy has been sent to interest groups for consultation but the AA says the pre-election timing was intentional.

"At present it appears the intention is to slip a radical change in transport policy into place without public input, at a time when people's attention is focused elsewhere," AA spokesman George Fairbairn and the forum said.

The AA said the strategy's radical change was that motorists would be made to pay for pollution caused by vehicles and for a regional plan that aimed to promote other forms of transport.

Mr Fairbairn said that based on a 1996 Transport Ministry pricing study, the plans could cost up to $3.1 billion a year, which equated to an extra dollar a litre of petrol.

The AA also criticised funds being put into plans to get people to walk or cycle rather than drive, saying these were social obligations and should not come out of road user charges.

Business New Zealand chief executive Simon Carlaw said prohibitive road charges could mean neglecting road projects.

"Making road users pay more for pollution, for example, would make recent increases in petrol tax and road user charges pale into insignificance, while the strategy places social initiatives, such as cycling and walking, ahead of investment in important roading priorities," he said.

Acting Transport Minister Judith Tizard said the claim of a $1 a litre price rise was nonsense. "There is not one suggestion of any tax increase in the entire draft document."

The strategy objectives were radical only when compared to the previous Government's policy of doing nothing.

She said a huge amount of consultation had taken place around transport issues in the past two years.

- NZPA

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