Northland families are being hit hard by a fresh fuel price hike that has pushed the cost of a litre of 91-octane petrol to a near-record 173.9 cents.
This week's five-cent rise is worrying Budget Advice Services, because the higher fuel cost will also be passed on in higher grocery prices. The service is recommending that people share vehicles and budget their expenses carefully.
Diesel has also gone up, to 127.9 cents per litre. The last diesel increase, three cents a litre, took effect a month ago.
Northland-wide transport company United Carriers uses about 10 million litres of fuel a year. The latest price hike, calculated over a year, will mean about $500,000 more in fuel bills for the company - which will ultimately be passed on to consumers.
Managing director Ajit Balasingham said the price of fuel was driven by international markets and his business had no control over it.
Pat Godfrey, of the Budget Advice Services in Hikurangi, said with no bus service, petrol station, banks or other essential services in the town, people had to travel to Whangarei. Some had to use taxis, the cost of which would also go up.
"Car sharing is a good way to go but a lot of people don't want to do that. If they still use their cars, they should budget for other stuff like food, power, telephone and cellphones," she said.
She knew of cases where people had found jobs in Whangarei but already couldn't afford transport into the city.
Northland Chamber of Commerce head Jeff Smith said vehicle owners had no choice but to look for alternative transport - and criticised the Government for collecting a handsome amount of money from fuel sales over the years. The latest rise meant another boost in GST income, he said.
Continuing price rises have prompted Taurikura man Steve Townsend, who used to travel to his Whangarei job by ute, to buy a motorcycle. At one stage he was biking 30km to cut down on costs, but the motorbike used only about $20 of petrol a week compared with the $100 his ute chewed through.
"The economics is pretty good now and it's a pleasure as well on the motorcycle," he said.
Planet Honda Motorcycles manager Mike Pool said scooter sales had risen in the past year, driven mostly by fuel price increases. He said a 50cc scooter could do a few hundred kilometres on four litres of petrol.
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