Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has rejected a suggestion the council should impose traffic fines as part of a debt relief program for low-income people.

Susan St John, a member of the Child Poverty Action Group, has proposed scrapping a series of government charges and debts as a way to tackle the cost of living crisis, and she specifically singled out the council for its fines for the parking and driving in bus lanes.

Mr Goff admitted to being caught in the notorious Khyber Pass bus land trap, which nets the council more than $1 million a year in fines.

“I have sinned and repented of my sins by paying my fine, and if I speed up and get a speed camera fine, I pay it and that’s it and if I want to avoid doing that, I’m not accelerating,” he said. .

Mayor Goff says Auckland Council allows people to defer paying fares if they are in financial difficulty.