Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown is criticising the Labour Government for leaving more than $300 million raised from the Auckland regional fuel tax unspent.
Brown, the National Party’s Transport spokesperson, says the money is “sitting idle in the Government’s bank account” while super-city residents remain stuck in traffic.
“The Government continues to take money from Aucklanders at the petrol pump, with the unspent revenue gathered from the fuel tax now at more than $300m,” he says.
“This is just another sign of Labour’s inability to deliver.
“The Government and Auckland mayor Phil Goff said this money was desperately needed for Auckland to fix congestion, so why is it sitting in a bank account gathering dust?
“With $51 million wasted on a failed attempt to build an unpopular cycle bridge, four years of non-delivery on light rail and cancelled projects like Mill Road and East-West Link, Aucklanders are rightly asking why they’re still paying this tax when little is being done to improve our transport network.
“If this Government isn’t going to spend this tax money on transport projects, then the regional fuel tax should be scrapped to give further relief to Kiwis facing a cost of living crisis.”
