Labour says fuel tax policy has been costed, but won't reveal details yet

Chris Hipkins is speaking to Morning Report shortly. Listen on the player above, the RNZ app or your local RNZ frequency.Labour leader Chris Hipkins has confirmed the party has done the costings for its fuel tax policy, but it will not reveal them until it releases its full fiscal plan.The party has so far disputed National's figures, but has not revealed its own, with Hipkins so far only saying it had "an idea".He is now saying the policy has been costed.Labour has committed to no increase in the fuel excise duty at all for an entire term, if elected.The government has cancelled a planned 12 cents a litre increase in January, instead proposing to increase the tax by 5 cents every six months between the start of 2028 through to the end of 2029.The National Land Transport Fund will instead be topped up to the tune of $1.5 billion, of which $450 million will come from the 'rainy day fund' created in this year's Budget.The rest, Transport Minister Chris Bishop has said, would likely come from borrowing, and without the top up there would have to be "significant" cuts to road maintenance, public transport, and infrastructure investment.Bishop has said Labour's policy would create a $4.6 billion shortfall, a figure Hipkins has disputed, saying National's figure included costs extending beyond the next Parliamentary term.Last week, Hipkins said Labour had "an idea" of the cost, but he has been unwilling to share it, saying Labour would update its figures following the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update.The PREFU is due to be released on 29 September.On Monday, Hipkins was again asked if Labour had done the costings, and he replied "yes."He said he would set out Labour's fiscal plan in due course."When the government open the books, we'll set out our own fiscal plan," he said."We're not going to be increasing fuel tax by 25 cents a litre on New Zealanders in the midst of a cost of living crisis, because we know that that means that for many households, they won't be able to make their own budgets add up."When announcing Labour's policy, Hipkins said Labour would "scale" investments under the National Land Transport Fund, to fit the funding available.A few days later, he would not rule out borrowing to pay for it, and then subsequently committed to not reversing any of the top-ups National implemented.