Roading
Road users should pay
Roads are important for economic growth and for people to be able to get from A to B quickly, safely and easily.
Federated Farmers thinks that all money collected from road users, such as petrol tax and road user charges, should be spent on roads. After many years of lobbying, the government has agreed with us. The challenge is to get all roads - including local roads - funded by road users, not ratepayers.
To achieve this, Federated Farmers' work includes the Rates Inquiry and submissions to government on transport legislation and the New Zealand Transport Strategy.
Diesel tax defeated
In the wake of the 'truckie' protest in June of 2008, a review of the Road User Charges (RUC) was established. There were strong calls to replace the RUC system with a diesel tax.
A diesel tax would have been a nightmare for farmers who would have had to go through a costly, complex and cumbersome off-road refund system.
The Federation was successful in opposing the diesel tax. The RUC review groups primary recomendation was for RUC to stay, but to be improved. The Minister subsequently ruled out a diesel tax.
Advice and information
The National Board spokesman for roading and transport is Donald Aubrey. You can contact him by clicking here.
The policy advisor for roading and transport is Matt Scott. You can contact him on 0800 327 646 or by clicking here.
