11 April 2002

For Whom The Road Tolls? Labour/Alliance Roading Plan A Fraud On Road Users

“The New Right is alive and well in Auckland with support of the Labour Party. Following the recent hikes in petrol tax and road user charges misrepresented by the Government as providing for roading development in Auckland the motorist is now confronted with more tolled highways,” New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters said today.

“There is a fairer solution that doesn’t continue to rip off the motorist. When in Government New Zealand First began a process of reducing the proportion of road taxes going into the consolidated fund. That process would have seen the full amount available for roading within ten years but was stopped by National. It should be re-activated.

“Motorists are already having a huge amount of tax taken from them and it is eminently possible to manage an annual programme whereby these tax receipts are diverted to the development of transport infrastructure. The money is there but currently less than $1 in every $2 collected is used for such development.

“Some local authorities may have previously been forced into tolls for funding special projects. This cannot be allowed to become the norm. The completion of regional roading networks is hardly a category of development where a toll is appropriate. It is time that our New Zealanders were presented with a plan for our future development. We need policy not spin, and we need to use the funds being taken from motorists for the appropriate purpose,” Mr. Peters said.

ENDS

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