Election 2023: National gets story straight on fuel taxes, after saying it could contemplate putting them up next year

National finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis has clarified the party would wait until the cost of living crisis is over and inflation is under 3 per cent before it would do any fuel price hikes. Photo / Mark Mitchell

National has clarified its contradictory position on fuel taxes after the party said, apparently by mistake, it might at least contemplate putting them up at the same time the Government has promised to hike fuel taxes, prompting Labour to demand National get its position straight.

Deputy leader Nicola Willis clarified later on Thursday the party’s “commitment is not to consider increasing petrol tax until the cost of living is under control, with inflation under 3 per cent”.

“This means our first GPS [Government Policy Statement on Land Transport - effectively a transport budget] will not include fuel excise increases,” Willis told the Herald.

That means no fuel increases between 2024-2027, the first transport budget National would be able to put together if it wins the election.

She cleaned up a mess National had got itself in earlier that day after Transport Minister David Parker said fuel excise would go up 2 cents a litre from July next year, the first of what would will ultimately equate to 12 cents in hikes.

Less than an hour after this was announced, Willis and transport spokesman Simeon Brown appeared on Parliament’s black and white tiles saying they would not “contemplate” a fuel tax hike until inflation was back within the 1-3 per cent target band - an event that would mark the symbolic end of the cost of living crisis.

“What we don’t think it is right is increasing petrol tax in the middle of a cost of living crisis,” Willis said.

“What we will do instead is we will wait until the cost of living crisis is over - that is, inflation under 3 per cent before we do any [hikes],” she said.

“This is our commitment to New Zealand: your petrol tax will not go up under National until inflation is under control,” Willis said.

Brown added: “What we have said is we will not be increasing fuel taxes while inflation is over 3 per cent, that is our commitment.”

Eagle-eyed observers, including Parker, noticed that inflation would come under control, by Willis’ own definition, exactly when the Government panned to hike taxes. In other words, National could raise fuel taxes exactly when Labour would.

Parker rushed out a press release saying Willis “clearly knows that National’s transport plan doesn’t add up. National needs to explain to voters how much they plan to increase FED and RUC [fuel taxes and road user charges] by and whether they would increase it sooner if inflation came down faster”.

“National need to front up to voters right now and stop hiding their intentions,” Parker said.

This is quite different to what Brown had said in May, which was: “At this stage we don’t intend to be increasing fuel excise. We will be putting out our policy on transport investment closer to the election.”

“National’s Transport Spokesperson Simeon Brown and Judith Collins clearly missed the memo, with both claiming that National would not increase FED and RUC over the next three years. They obviously don’t talk to each other,” Parker said, making reference to Judith Collins for a reason that remains unclear.

The Herald has sought clarification from Labour about why Collins was mentioned in the release.

Willis clarified later that “unlike Labour, we will not be implementing petrol tax increases in our first term”.