PM set to unveil relief at the petrol pump

The Prime Minister will this afternoon announce measures that will provide immediate relief at the petrol pump. Photo / Getty Images

Northlanders will wait with bated breath Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's announcement this afternoon on measures to alleviate the burden of rising cost of living, including immediate relief at the petrol pump.

Ardern this morning finally acknowledged a cost-of-living "crisis" - and indicated Cabinet was today considering temporary relief on some of the tax that Kiwi motorists paid for fuel.

"We are looking at additional things we can do to ease the pressure on families."

Northlanders, like all kiwis, have been hard hit by a sharp spike in fuel and grocery prices as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine and a shortage of foreign workers.

With the cost of a litre of petrol soaring past $3, about 70c of that is collected by the Government to go to Waka Kotahi-NZ Transport Agency, which uses the money to pay for maintaining roads, building new roads, and subsidising public transport.

The Government heads into the last week of the Parliamentary sitting block with growing calls for it to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, which, until now, was a crisis it did not acknowledge existed.

While the Government is considering measures to alleviate the burden of the cost-of-living spike on households, it is not clear what measures it would consider, or when they would be implemented.