John MacDonald: Ditching fuel tax increases would be shortsighted

After pretty much telling us to calm the farm over the fuel situation, I can’t believe the government is getting all antsy about its fuel tax increase - due to kick-in at the start of next year.  Yesterday, when Finance Minister Nicola Willis gave her regular fuel update, she said it is “very unlikely” that the Government will go ahead with the 12 percent-per-litre increase in January.  Why’s that? Because the Government doesn’t think people can afford it. Due to the increased costs caused by the war in Iran.  But I don’t think the country can afford not to increase the taxes.   Because, as the finance minister said herself yesterday, no increase in the fuel tax is going to mean less money for road maintenance and road construction.  Anyone who thinks this would be a good idea obviously has a very short memory.  Because it was only two months when the automobile association released the findings of its most recent research survey of motorists, which found that more than half of us think our roads are rubbish.  Fifty-four percent of people surveyed by the AA said they were frustrated by the state of our roads.  South Canterbury was one of the areas where people were most unhappy. More than 60 percent of people there said they thought the roads were in cruddy condition.  And, at the time, aa spokesperson Dylan Thomsen said his organisation had been pushing for better maintenance of roads for years.  Two months ago, he said: “We are very pleased that there has been a big increase in funding and focus on maintenance with initiatives like the government’s pothole fund. Hopefully we’ve turned a corner and we'll see aa members happier with their roads in future surveys.”  That’s not going to happen if the government does do what Nicola Willis was talking about yesterday and does press pause on fuel tax increases.  As Chris Bishop has said previously about fuel taxes. He says they “go into the roads, maintenance, public transport, the new projects we want to build, the new public transport projects we want to build, all of those things have to be paid for.”  Adding that the Government “doesn't have an unlimited credit card”.  So the Government, if it’s totally honest, obviously thinks that increasing fuel taxes is a no-brainer. Which it is. So why is it saying now that it’s probably not going to?  Because it doesn’t think it would be fair and reasonable to make us pay more for fuel when we are already, because of what’s going on in the Middle East.      I get that. But it’s just politics. Because, if you think beyond the here and now and think about the state of our roads, then you too will, hopefully, see that this move - over time - would be a major step backwards.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.