KEY POINTS:
A new fuel tax to fund Auckland transport projects is proving popular outside the region, but perhaps not surprisingly is finding less favour within its boundaries.
Plans for the fuel tax - likely to be up to 10c a litre - were unveiled in the Budget, and it
will be used to help pay for the electrification of Auckland's rail network.
As local body councillors mull over how popular that move might be, the latest Herald DigiPoll survey has found that just over half of those polled agreed with the fuel tax being levied on Aucklanders for Auckland projects.
Exactly 52.7 per cent of respondents agreed, against 44.2 per cent who disagreed, while 3.1 per cent were undecided.
But when the response was split between people in Auckland and outside the area, the contrast was dramatic.
In Auckland, 70.5 per cent of those polled disagreed with the tax.
Outside Auckland the result was more favourable, with 64.5 per cent backing the tax.
The result comes as political negotiations loom between Labour and Parliament's other parties about the final form that the regional fuel tax will take.
It is planned that legislation for the tax will be introduced to Parliament in June, but first Labour must secure enough support from other parties to get the proposals through.
A regional fuel tax is also planned for Wellington, and it is that city which has sparked a political row over the proposals.
The Greens have been upset by United Future leader Peter Dunne's saying that the money raised in Wellington should be used to fund the long-awaited Transmission Gully roading project.
Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said yesterday that her party would not support all of the new regional tax being used only for roading.
"We're happy with a regional fuel tax to be spent on public transport because the main beneficiaries of public transport are people who drive cars," she said.
"The public hasn't really got their heads around that yet."
While unwilling to state what the Greens' bottom lines will be in negotiations with the Government, Ms Fitzsimons has said most of the money must go to public transport.
"We would prefer at least in those major cities that have public transport capacity to see it all spent on public transport, but I'm not going to say where we might end up," she said.
