935 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport

935 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport: What is his assessment of whether the current Roads of National Significance programme is affordable under existing Fuel Excise Duty, Road User Charges, and tolling settings?

Hon Chris Bishop: Based on current estimates, delivering the Roads of National Significance programme in full over the next 20 years would cost $56 billion. If this was funded entirely from petrol tax and road user charges, this would require a one-off 70% increase. Equivalent to a 49 cent per litre increase in petrol tax. This would be on top of the current planned increases to petrol tax. I am also advised by NZTA that an exercise is currently underway to determine the order in which the Roads of National Significance are funded and delivered. This includes looking at affordability under existing funding and financing settings. I will have more to say on this in due course. I refer the Member to my speech to Future Roads 2025: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/speech-future-roads-2025-nz-roading-industry-conference