National Party leader Christopher Luxon is calling on the Government to cut fuel taxes in a bid to help Kiwis' back pockets as the cost of living rapidly escalates.
The price of petrol has skyrocketed over $3 per litre in some parts of the country - more than half of which is made up of fuel excise duty, the emission trading scheme levy and GST.
Luxon told Three's morning show AM more needed to be done to help lower the cost of living.
"I think the issue here is we've got a cost of living crisis going on in this country. We've got inflation and the cost of stuff going up twice the rate of wages… there's not a lot that you can do about fuel prices because they're dictated globally - but the bit the Government could control is the tax component of that.
"If you really want to do everything to keep as much cash in Kiwis' pockets, the right thing to do is to actually see if you can reduce that tax."
According to price-tracking app Gaspy, 91 petrol prices in Auckland are approaching $2.90 per litre - with Z Greenlane charging $2.88 on Wednesday.
"I think it's just a question of, 'How do you, as a Government, go to work each day and work out what you can do to reduce that cost of living pressure that's on hard-working Kiwis?' The other things that you start to look at are how you can make Government spending more effective," said Luxon.
"We have a cost of living crisis, what is the Government doing? Can it actually look at things?"
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday said the runaway fuel prices were largely due to international factors and ruled out lowering the petrol excise duty.
"Those are obviously legislated and set by regulation," she said. "That is not something we have given consideration to.
"We are looking at where there is anything domestically at play in terms of our domestic market but at the moment you can very clearly see we are not alone in the experience we are having."
The Motor Trade Association (MTA) has pointed the finger at the Government and urged people not to blame petrol companies or their workers for the skyrocketing cost of fuel.
"All indications are that due to the rising cost of crude and the weak Kiwi dollar, prices are likely to continue rising here," MTA energy and environment sector manager Ian Baggott said.
"We would ask motorists to remember that to a very large extent, these increases are beyond the fuel companies' control."
