Fuel Excise Duty Delay Sparks Road Freight Concerns

The road freight industry is criticizing Labour's decision to not increase fuel excise duty for an entire term, if elected. The party has committed to not raising the fuel excise duty by 12 cents a litre from January, followed by a 6 cents per litre rise in 2028 and 4 cents per litre in subsequent years.

The current fuel excise duty is set at a flat rate of around 70c per litre. Since the last increase in 2020, the excise duty has fallen by 21 percent while construction costs have increased. Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand, the national association for road freight, says roading repair and maintenance could only keep pace with a growing economy if there was investment in it.

Transporting NZ chief executive Dom Kalasih said he was 'flabbergasted' by the proposition of increases being put off even more. He warned that continuing to put the increase off would be a 'threat' to economic development and would likely have an adverse effect on New Zealand's economic prosperity.