Pitched as cost-of-living relief for households and businesses already paying more at the pump, Labour says it would not raise fuel excise tax for three years if it wins the election.

📋 Labour: Freeze Fuel Tax, August 2026 →

What it does

• Freezes fuel excise tax for three years, covering a full parliamentary term.
• Labour says the freeze would save an average family $520 a year by 2030, and says the current government's plans would add 22 cents a litre over the next term.
• Labour says the freeze is fully funded in its fiscal plan, with the cost met from the National Land Transport Fund, which pays for roads and public transport. Chris Hipkins has said a Labour government would scale transport investment to fit the funding available.

The debate

Hipkins announced the pledge on 27 August 2026. Days later the government cancelled the 12 cents a litre rise due on 1 January 2027 and replaced it with smaller rises starting at 5 cents a litre from 1 January 2028. Finance Minister Nicola Willis said Labour's freeze would leave a $4.6 billion shortfall in transport funding, and in October she put the cost of freezing fuel tax and road user charges for three years at $3.1 billion. Transport Minister Chris Bishop called the three-year pledge irresponsible. Infrastructure New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett said the parties' moves amounted to a race to the bottom and that the planned increases should go ahead, and independent economist Cameron Bagrie said both main parties were offering insufficient funding for roads.