Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Petrol price hike hurts North

By Rosemary Roberts
Northern Advocate·
23 Aug, 2012 09:12 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Whangarei-based businessman Trevor Griffith thinks living on the Tutukaka coast is heaven - but paying for the commute is hell.

Even before the increase in the price of petrol this week he was paying up to $160 a week to fill up his six-cylinder Holden. Now with fuel more than $2.22 a litre he is looking at an even bigger bill.

This is well over double what he was paying to fill the car when he bought the vehicle in 2008.

He says he and other coastal residents, have discussed car-pooling but he realised it wasn't a feasible option for him because he had to have the flexibility to drive to building sites during the day.

His business, Griffiths Project Management, has also been heavily hit by the increase in the price of petrol. "When you are pricing a contract you have to factor in the man-hours and what it costs for those people to drive to work - but if you start charging the full fuel costs you could price yourself out of the market."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Kathy McMillan, manager of the North Haven Hospice shop Allsortz, says petrol rises said her army of 260 volunteers are probably doing a bit of car-pooling and combining shop duty with doing errands around town.

Ngaire Rae, of Manaia PHO, says rural families are already prioritising for town visits, "doing one big visit, 'saving things up' and things like paying bills and buying food are likely to take priority over pro-active health care. They often delay seeing a doctor because they can't afford the petrol".

Greg McNeill, communications manager for Refining New Zealand (operators of the Marsden Pt refinery) said the complex refined up to 55 per cent of New Zealand's petrol needs and the petrol companies bought the balance overseas. He said the refinery's $365 million expansion project would enable the refinery to meet 65 per cent of New Zealand's petrol needs, reliably and cost-competitively against imports.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales
Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

More than 170 customers south of Cape Rēinga are still without power.

17 Jul 08:26 AM
'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP