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Jacinda Ardern rules out removing fuel tax

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 16 Oct 2018, 9:35AM
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Jacinda Ardern rules out removing fuel tax

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 16 Oct 2018, 9:35AM

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is once again ruling out removing the fuel tax as petrol prices skyrocket.

When asked by Mike Hosking about the Commerce Commission's investigation into petrol prices, Ardern said there are things which can be done to reduce the petrol prices.

"We just need to make sure we are targetted and we are responding to the problem."

"Sometimes putting that transparency around pricing does add a little bit of social pressure to make sure we are seeing behaviour that does respond to consumer demand and consumer issues," she said.

The Prime Minister said low-income families are also missing out on the discounts offered by petrol companies.

"Over the last 10 years, you will have probably noticed an increase in fuel cards and supermarket coupons, well actually lower income people who are filling up their cars might not even hit the amount that is required for the fill up to get that discount." 

Ardern rejected the notion that reducing the fuel taxes was the solution.

"What people are complaining about is the rapid increase we have seen in the last year, which cannot be explained by that [tax]." 

She said even if they removed tax tomorrow there is no guarantee that would reduce petrol prices.

"You're making the assumption that if we remove excise tomorrow then consumers will ultimately see the benefit of that at the pump."

She said she cannot currently say that consumers are getting a fair deal from petrol companies.

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