November 23, 2012.

Earlier start up time welcomed

Mayor Jenny Rowan has welcomed the Government’s announcement that work on the Transmission Gully Expressway may begin in 2014, a year earlier than planned.

“This project has been around for some time. The arguments for and against have been put; a decision to proceed has been made and now the Government agencies should get on with it as quickly as possible.”

Mayor Rowan said everyone knew the conditions on SH1 into Wellington and how dangerous it was in parts.

The recently released Life Line report only reinforced the need for a second route into Wellington. “This report made clear that opening access into Wellington could take up to three months after a Christchurch-size earthquake and that parts of Wellington could be without water for 60 days or longer.

“It was some relief to read comment today that there was been a substantial reduction in fatal accidents on the Centennial Highway from Pukerua Bay to Paekakariki since the wire barrier was erected. However that does not detract from the fact that in a major earthquake that section of SH1 could be closed by slips for up to three months.”

ENDS

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Arguably Reassuring: Inspector-General Finds GCSB "Arguably" Legal

Of the 88 individuals:

• 15 cases involving 22 individuals did not have any information intercepted by GCSB.

• another four cases involving five individuals were the subjects of a New Zealand Security Intelligence Service warrant and the GCSB assisted in the execution of the warrants. The Inspector-General is of the view that there were arguably no breaches and the law is unclear.

• the Bureau only provided technical assistance which did not involve interception of communications, involving three of the individuals, so no breach occurred.

• the remaining cases involved the collection of metadata, and the Inspector-General formed the view that there had arguably been no breach, noting once again that the law is unclear.
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