Bikers force backdown on ACC levies 

Source: NZPAHundreds of bikers gather at Auckland's Domain to protest against proposed ACC levy hikes

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Motorcyclists say they have got a reasonable result after protesting at parliament recently against proposed big increases in the ACC component of motorbike registrations.

Angry motorcyclists who descended on parliament have been heard loud and clear by the government, forcing a major backdown from a plan to sting bikers with registration increases of up to $500.

However, the cost of keeping vehicles on the road is still about to go up dramatically.

Motorists can expect to pay up to $200 more to register their car, motorbike or truck next year.

It is part of the government's plan to collect more money to cover the rising cost of accident compensation, because the cost of treating car crash victims and people injured in other accidents at work or on the sports field are skyrocketing.

Peter McIntosh of the Ulysses Motorcycle Club says he is surprised and pleased by the final ACC levies announced by the government.

"I think we've got a reasonably good result here. No increase is ever going to be pleasant for anybody but certainly it shows the government and others have taken some notice of the stuff motorcyclists have put before them," says McIntosh.

The ACC component of car registrations will rise by $30 to almost $200.

Petrol powered mopeds will rise $70 to $130.

And those owning more powerful bikes over 600cc will pay $170 more at around $430.

ACC Minister Nick Smith says the levy increases for motorcyclists are still significant.

"But I think they're fair," he says.

There is still some concern about the impact though.

The most particular being the effect on people who have more than one vehicle. They have to pay ACC levies on every vehicle they have but can only use one at a time, says Les Mason, BRONZ president.

Three million dollars of the extra money collected will be used to improve motorbike safety to cut back on crashes which cost dearly.

"I think that's a really big gain for motorcyclists," says McIntosh.

But everybody will be paying in other ways, too, with ACC levies collected directly from pay packets going up.

Essentially, the overall impact on a family with two parents earning the average wage, owning a couple of cars, is an extra $360 a year.

The increases are far less than originally suggested.

Labour's ACC spokesman David Parker says the government was scaremongering.

"It shows they scaremongered in order to justify the changes in scope they're determined to push through and their privatisation agenda," he says.

But the government says it is a simple equation - with costs rising they have to collect more money.

ONE News Deputy Political Editor Francesca Mold says it is essentially a case of the government giving with one hand and taking away with the other.

She points out the tax cuts that were promised for next year have already been canned and even though workers on the average wage got a tax break of $18 a week this year, the new ACC levies will take a $3 chunk out of that, not to mention other increases in the cost of living.

The government says it is trying to soften the hit, but is warning there will be more levy increases and cuts to services.