Enclosed are answers given by Chris to questions which came directly to her from the Chamber of Commerce prior to and which accompanied her speech which you received a copy of yesterday.

The answers which Chris used at the Chamber ' backgrounded' her speech, and were therefore not originally included directly in the speech which you have already received. However they provide information which is integral to that speech, and which will therefore provide people who were not able to attend the Chamber debate with further and related information.

The questions which were sent to her by the Chamber prior to the debate, and which were given to attendees, should be looked at together with the speech you already have.
The actual questiions are given here:
1. What does the candidate intend to do towards completing Auckland's roading network and implementing efficient public transport options
2. How will the candidate advance and improve Auckland's rail infrastructure
3. Does the candidate intend to equip Auckland with a convention centre that will enable it to compete with cities like Sydney and Melbourne in hosting key business events
4. What plans does the candidate have for Auckland's wider infrastructure besides roads
5. How does the candidate intend to foster and develop the waterfront including the creation of good public access and spaces
6. What are the candidate's plans for building safe communities within Auckland

Please read each question along with the respective answer in conjunction with the speech which you received yesterday.
admin@chrisfletcher.org.nz
Regards, Chris

1. The current Auckland City mustn't waste any more time or money trying to run with its own agenda on the Eastern Motorway (it is not even budgeted for in the Long Term Community Funding Plan) and look to supporting the urgent regional priorities to give early relief to the congestion clogging our roads and triggering our tempers. The adoption of the Regional Transport Plan prioritises SH20 for completion. We have Government support for funding. We need to accelerate the consenting process whilst looking for strategies to minimise environment effects like cut and cover.

2. The biggest problem getting any decisions taken for Auckland is the fragmentation in governance. We need amalgamation under one Regional Council of the 7 cities that make up Auckland for transport, water, tourism and events (See Auckland City's Strategic Plan 2000). Britomart was the circuit breaker for getting the rail corridors and rail plans in place. I applaud the Government decision now to create one transport agency. Now let them get on with new state the art fast electric trains linking our region and the Light Rail (option 2A - aboveground trams-based, linking the CBD through Britomart with universities, Newmarket and Western Line, cancelled by this current Council ) plus not forgetting the importance of bus and ferry services.

3. Auckland's economic future must embrace tourism and attract people who are innovative, entrepreneurial and creative, and who will generate jobs and capital in the value niche markets. We must work regionally to develop the tourism and exhibition space to complement this. A Convention Centre is part of Auckland's 2000 Strategic Plan - First City of the Pacific: we must promote an eco-economy that builds on the city's unique icons, with tourism and marine events; we need real business and not just property development.

4. Auckland must have clean and unpolluted water, land and air. The investments in our water/waste water/stormwater infrastructure are urgent and overdue. The challenge is to ensure that the costs are shared equitably over the generations that will share these services. There must also be an increase in developer financial contribution to city infrastructure where any new growth is occurring.

5. Progressing Britomart and the 5.2 hectare site with the preservation of the 18 heritage buildings is allowing the most grotty and rundown part of the CBD to be transformed into a vital area of waterfront development that generates further investment and growth in the CBD waterfront area and adds to the Viaduct area. Now we just need to redevelop the tank farm, secure public access to the wharves - Queens, Captain Cook and Marsden - and provide a boardwalk from St Heliers through to Westhaven and Herne Bay; with international events like the Volvo stopover to complement Auckland's reputation as a premier harbour-city tourism destination.

6. Introduce a "safer city" policy and community wardens so every man, woman and child can walk our streets without fear. Check out website www.chrisfletcher.org.nz

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>