With only hours to go until Auckland is hit by the new fuel tax, desperate motorists are queuing to fuel up with cheap petrol.
The tax means an extra 11.5 cents will be slapped onto every litre from Sunday July 1 - burning a hole in unhappy drivers' wallets.
- How much the fuel taxes will cost you
- Fuel tax: Where to fill up before prices rise
- How to avoid the oncoming fuel tax cataclysm
Photos show the long queues outside the Gull station in Titirangi stretching down the road. It's the cheapest in Auckland, with regular 91 costing $1.99. Other stations warn the wait will get worse later on Saturday afternoon and evening.
Once the fuel tax hits, Gull general manager Dave Bodger expects many people, especially truckies, will just fuel up south of the Bombay Hills.
"That's a big flood of tax disappearing. Businesses will get around it that way," he told The AM Show on Friday.
The truly dedicated might even go a bit further to Atiamuri, between Tokoroa and Taupo, which Mr Bodger says has the cheapest fuel in the country.
Like National transport spokeswoman Judith Collins, who's calling the hike the "Phil Phil" tax after Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, Mr Bodger thinks it'll hurt the poor.
"You will move down from steak to sausages and you won't go to the movies. People will still buy petrol because they need to get to their jobs."
Newshub.
