Waka Kotahi — the government's transport agency, also known as NZTA — is refusing to release documents about road tolling. RNZ asked for the documents under the Official Information Act, the law that lets the public request information from government agencies. NZTA found four documents but withheld all of them, saying the advice was confidential and commercially sensitive. RNZ

One of the documents was about whether to put a toll on the Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass project, north of Christchurch. NZTA said it could not release that one because ministers had not made a decision yet, and advice given to ministers before a decision is made is protected by convention. The other three documents were held back because they contained information that could affect commercial deals. RNZ

The refusals come as the government wants tolls considered on all big road projects and wants to change the rules so toll money can be spent more widely. NZTA is also spending tens of millions of dollars upgrading its tolling technology. The agency says the current system on New Zealand's three existing toll roads is so old that a big chunk of the money collected from drivers just goes towards running the system itself. RNZ

In November 2025 the government proposed a bill that would make tolls go up automatically each year with inflation, instead of through one-off increases. Ministers said this would make tolling fairer and more predictable for drivers. Beehive

That followed earlier moves. In December 2024 the government announced changes to make it easier to set up tolls and collect the revenue, including upgrading software and changing the law. Beehive

In March 2025 the government said it was looking at letting private companies run toll roads. Under this idea, a private company would manage and maintain a toll road for a set number of years and keep the toll revenue. In July 2025 the government started testing whether private companies were interested in the idea. Beehive Beehive

The policy direction traces back to the government's Revenue Action Plan from August 2024, which was about building infrastructure sooner by changing tolling laws and finding new ways to fund roads. One of those tools is called value capture — where the government takes back some of the increased property value that new roads create. Beehive

Officials have previously told Transport Minister Simeon Brown he could consider putting tolls on existing roads, not just new ones, to help with tight transport funding. Brown has stopped short of saying all new major roads will be tolled. The Ministry of Transport has also said a bill changes the road user charges system — fees that diesel and heavy vehicle drivers pay based on how far they travel — alongside the tolling framework, so both keep working on a user-pays basis. RNZ RNZ Ministry of Transport

The broader context here is that NZTA is building the systems and deals for more road tolling at the same time as it is allowed to keep the details secret under the Official Information Act. The reasons given for withholding the documents — protecting advice before decisions are made, and protecting commercial information — line up with the government's active interest in letting private companies run toll roads. NZTA is running a market test with private companies and upgrading its tolling technology at the same time as the government changes the law, so there is a lot of internal advice that covers both commercial deals and decisions ministers have not made yet. RNZ Beehive

For those watching the country's road-building plans, the withholding of the Belfast to Pegasus and Woodend Bypass tolling advice is the clearest sign yet that tolling decisions on individual major roads have become commercially important. The fact that the briefing was withheld because a decision has not been made suggests tolling options for that road are still being considered by ministers. RNZ

NZTA has published some Official Information Act material on its website, including letters about the Northern Gateway Toll Road. One released in November 2025 covered a request about information shared with a minister, and another from April 2026 dealt with toll discounts for people living near Northern Gateway. NZTA NZTA

The Ministry of Transport's earlier research into how other countries run road pricing gives some background to where things are heading. A 2018 review noted that Stockholm put most of its road-pricing revenue towards building major road projects — a model behind the government's push to let toll money be spent on more things in Aotearoa. Ministry of Transport