Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis said on Monday that the Government is deciding whether to keep giving extra money to working families to help with fuel costs.

The help is a $50-per-week boost to a payment called the in-work tax credit, which goes to families where at least one adult is in paid work. The boost started on 1 April 2026 and was meant to end after twelve months, or sooner if the price of 91 petrol stayed below $3 per litre for four weeks in a row.

Willis said she has three weeks of fuel-price data so far and will get the fourth week's data on Wednesday. Once she has that, officials will tell Cabinet what they think the Government should do.

On Monday morning, the fuel-price website Gaspy reported the average price of petrol had gone back up to exactly $3 per litre, after dipping below $3 in late June. Willis said officials expect prices to go above $3 again soon because international fuel prices have risen sharply. She called the recent lower prices a possible "welcome blip" rather than a lasting change.

Luxon said all parties in the coalition government knew prices could go up and down, and he expected them to be practical about the advice before deciding. He did not promise to extend fuel-related help to any other groups.

Since April, about 143,000 families have been able to get support through the scheme. A further 14,000 families became newly eligible for the $50-per-week payment when it started. The Government also announced fuel relief for small, rural and isolated schools, including a temporary increase to mileage rates for relief teachers and replacing diesel boilers at up to 70 schools.

Budget 2026 set aside $150 million for fuel-crisis support overall.

Also on Monday, Willis and Luxon said more than 97,500 families had received FamilyBoost payments, with 6,566 getting the maximum $120 per week.

The scheme was designed with a built-in stop: if petrol stayed below $3 for four weeks, the extra payment would switch off automatically. Think of it like a heater with a thermostat that turns off when the room reaches the right temperature. The question now is whether the Government will let that automatic switch-off happen, or override it because the price drop might not last.

Willis calling the lower prices a "welcome blip" suggests the Government may be preparing to extend the scheme even if the fourth week of data comes in below $3, on the basis that the drop is not proven to be permanent.

Luxon's mention of prices going up and down points to a political risk either way. If the Government keeps the scheme going even though the trigger has been met, people may question whether it is being careful with public money. If it lets the scheme end and prices shoot back up soon after, the Government could be accused of pulling help away too early. Luxon said he expects coalition partners to be "pragmatic," which suggests the Government sees this as a practical judgement call rather than a fight between parties, but the result will depend on Wednesday's data and what officials recommend.

Tying a support payment to a market price is unusual in New Zealand. Most government support programmes have a set review date or a fixed end date, rather than switching on or off based on what something costs at the pump. The four-week rule was meant to protect against exactly this situation, where prices dip and then bounce back quickly. How the Government handles this trigger will set a pattern for how similar schemes work in the future.

The wider package of fuel-crisis measures, including the schools relief from April and the $150 million in Budget 2026, gives the Government other options beyond the tax-credit scheme. The FamilyBoost numbers announced Monday show a Government that wants to highlight several kinds of family support at a time when the fuel scheme's future is still being decided.