New pain at pump: Petrol $2.22 a litre

Petrol prices have soared to record highs - hammering Hawke's Bay people reliant on cars to get to work and angering transport groups who have branded the rises as "unjustified".
Napier Family Centre chief executive officer Roydon Day described the latest rises, which have pushed 91 octane up 3 cents to $2.22 a litre, as "one more nail in the coffin" for struggling Bay families who need their cars to keep their jobs.
"There has been a trend for both parents to work and the car is needed," he said.
"It's important for people's independence, to get to their employment and drop children off at day care."
The latest rise followed a previous peak on March 22, when prices reached their highest level since July 2008.
Automobile Association petrolwatch spokesman Mark Stockdale called the increase "surprising and unjustified" and believed a strong New Zealand dollar against the US dollar should have offset rising oil and refined petrol prices.
"AA believes the companies have been premature to raise pump prices in light of our increasing exchange rate."
"Bizarrely" the price of diesel had gone down, he said.
Along with the rise in petrol prices there had been a rise in people using buses.
A record 64,000 passenger trips were taken around Napier and Hastings in March, Hawke's Bay Regional Council transport manager Carol Gilbertson said.
But many areas were not covered and she said cost was the driving factor in choosing routes.
"It always comes down to funding," Ms Gilbertson said. A new route was being considered for Bay View and Ahuriri but would go ahead only if it was certain it would be used.
Hastings motorist Andrew McLaren said petrol prices were not as high as in the UK but over there they had an excellent public transport system.
"If we had a better transport system people would use it."
There is no bus service for Haumoana mother Paula Lantsbury and the cost of petrol hurts. "It is priced as a luxury but it's a necessity."
Her son did not take the bus to Havelock North High School because it was standing room only.
"They cram them on - it's too dangerous," she said.
Hastings resident Bob Anderson said people were still prepared to pay the price.
"If you look down the road you see one person in most cars," he said.
"The real issue is GST on staples. Young families in supermarkets are hurting. The real issue is feeding people - or not being able to feed people."
Gordon Dawson of Hastings used supermarket vouchers to decrease the cost of petrol for his family, but it wasn't enough. "It's bloody sick - shocking," Mr Dawson said.
"You have to spend $270 at the supermarket to get 10 cents off."
According to AA PetrolWatch, the price of petrol has risen 21 cents per litre, or 10 per cent, this year.
It now costs the average motorist between $9 to $15 more to fill up a car compared with the start of the year.
For the owner of a small car travelling 14,000km, that equated to an extra $190 in petrol costs a year, or more than $340 a year for a large vehicle.