Photo: RNZFinance Minister Nicola Willis has ruled out reducing the cost of road user charges to give some reprieve to diesel users. While the government excise tax is part of the price of petrol, diesel users pay their tax through road user charges (RUCs). Wills told RNZ on Tuesday she had sympathy for diesel users but there were no plans to reduce the price of road user charges. "I have deep sympathy for diesel users because diesel is the fuel globally that has been most disrupted by the Middle East conflict." We have a different mechanism for achieving that for petrol users from diesel users, but if we were to do something for diesel users, petrol users would fairly ask why they're not getting it."

Source: Otago Daily Times March 31, 2026 03:35 UTC