The price of power, petrol and car licences start going up from today as the emissions trading (ETS) scheme cuts in and ACC levies increase.The ETS imposes costs on greenhouse gas emitters which are going to be passed on to consumers and the government es
The price of power, petrol and car licences start going up from today as the emissions trading (ETS) scheme cuts in and ACC levies increase.
The ETS imposes costs on greenhouse gas emitters which are going to be passed on to consumers and the government estimates households will pay about $3 more a week or $165 a year –3.5c a litre for petrol and about 1.5c a kilowatt hour for electricity.
A licence for the average petrol powered car increases by $30 as the ACC component of the licence fee goes up from $168.46 to $198.46, part of the government's changes it says are needed to meet the increased cost of claims.
Motorbike owners face bigger increases ranging from $70 to $170 a year depending on the size of their bikes.
On October 1 GST increases from 12.5 percent to 15 percent, raising the cost of nearly everything.
The Reserve Bank is expected to continue raising interest rates, meaning mortgage repayments are going to go up.
The Labour Party says if predictions are correct and retail interest rates increase by 1 percent by the end of this year, it will cost $60 to $100 a week more to service a $300,000 mortgage.
It also suggests budget measures targeting property owners and developers could mean rent increases averaging $34 a week.
Treasury forecasts a 1.4% increase over the next three to five years, which the Government compares with the 2.6% increase while Labour was in power.
From February next year, changes to funding for early childhood education will mean increased costs for some parents.
The centres are funded now to have 100 percent qualified teachers, from February that goes down to 80 percent. How many decide to cover the change by charging parents isn't yet known, but the Government expects some of them will.
On the other side of the ledger, tax cuts take effect on October 1 at the same time as GST increases.
The argument about whether people will be better or worse off has been going on since the May budget, with Labour and National throwing figures at each other.
Prime Minister John Key says the vast bulk of New Zealanders will be better off because they are getting tax cuts worth $4.3 billion against a GST increase which will cost about $2 billion.
Labour says wage increases won't be enough to cover inflation and most lower and middle income people will find price rises outstrip their tax cuts.
