last updated 26th January 06
by 4ecotips.com

Motorist face six cent per litre fuel increase

According to a report by Anna Chalmers of NZPA, New Zealand's government is investigating slapping higher penalties on gas guzzling vehicles to promote fuel efficiency, as motorists face a six cent a litre petrol price increase.

Oil companies blamed a lower Kiwi dollar for yesterday's increase - the single largest in nearly two years. It saw fuel at Wellington stations climb to 147.9c a litre for 91 octane, 152.9c for 96 octane and 105.9c for diesel.

Also, a Statistics New Zealand report reinforced that the Kiwi love affair with cars is making the situation worse. Filling the car with petrol is the single biggest contributor to New Zealand's growing energy demands, with households the largest energy consumers in the country, it says.

Meanwhile, the NZ Transport Ministry has confirmed it is investigating a Green Party proposal to link car registration charges with fuel efficiency as occurs in Europe. Such an initiative is used in France, where car taxes are graduated according to engine size, while in Britain charges are based on vehicles' CO2 emissions per mile.

Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, who is in charge of the NZ government's energy efficiency programme, said such a scheme would reward people who bought "environmentally sensible" cars.

"It is essential to improve the efficiency of New Zealand's vehicle fleet as quickly as possible to protect ourselves against ever-rising fuel prices and to reduce unnecessary climate change emissions," she said. "The only way to do that is to target vehicles entering the country."
The Transport Ministry confirmed it had been instructed by the Government to study incentives for the purchase of efficient vehicles.