Prime minister Jacinda Ardern is concerned Kiwis are paying too much at the pump, claiming consumers are being “fleeced” by fuel companies.
The Government has announced it is pushing through a commerce amendment bill because of the high price of petrol, NZ Herald reports.
“Consumers, in my book, are being fleeced,” she told reporters at her post-Cabinet press conference.
“Between 2008 and 2017, the margins importers were taking more than doubled.”
Between October 2017 and September this year, petrol prices have risen 39c, but just 6.9c of this was tax, whereas 9.8c was down to margin from importers, she says.
Once the bill becomes law, which is likely to be next week, Ardern says there would one month transition period.
“As a moral stance, I think New Zealanders are paying too much for petrol.”
The bill would allow the Commerce Commission to closely study various sections of the market, including the fuel industry.
Ardern defended the Government’s increase in excise tax, which has added to the public’s fuel bills.
“Even if we did remove [the excise taxes] I cannot guarantee that fuel companies would not simply absorb that themselves and consumers would pay the same price.”
However, National leader Simon Bridges hit out at the Government.
“[The prime minister] is saying consumers are being ‘fleeced’ while her Government is driving up fuel prices and taking hundreds of dollars from Kiwi households through higher taxes on fuel.
“The [Commerce Commission] inquiry will take months and any resulting changes could be years away. Meanwhile New Zealanders are paying record prices for petrol and the Government is collecting hundreds of millions of extra tax from them.”
