Labour Deputy Leader didn’t know the Government doesn’t pay rates

Wayne Brown interviewed Carmel Sepuloni, and asked her why the Government doesn’t pay rates on land and buildings it owns. Her answer was “I didn’t know that this was the case”.

Amazing that such a basic piece of knowledge was unknown to Labour’s proposed Deputy Prime Minister. I think I have known that for 30 or so years. It is very common knowledge.

The answer incidentally is that the Crown set up local government by statute, so the Crown doesn’t pay taxes to a subsidiary body. It would also create perverse incentives if the Department of Conservation had to pay a massive rates bill on all the national parks it conserves. Then you would have real pressure to reduce, not grow, the conservation estate.