The Transport Minister says the petrol tax needs replacing - to keep up revenue for maintaining roads.

Chris Bishop's announced universal road user charges will be implemented for all vehicles, to be paid like a bill.

The Government wants payments to reflect road-use, not a vehicle's fuel-efficiency.

Bishop says with 350,000 hybrids on the road, fewer people are paying fuel taxes.

He explained the national land transport fund's revenue is slowly diminishing - which is needed to maintain existing roads and build new ones.

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