Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown met US Ambassador to New Zealand Tom Udall in Auckland today.

Ambassador Udall is the first foreign envoy Mayor Brown has met formally since his election in October, a mark of the importance Mayor Brown and Auckland Council place on the relationship with the United States.

The Mayor’s Office says that the current emergency situation and climate change were top of the agenda for today’s discussions, with the Mayor thanking Ambassador Udall for his kind words of support to those impacted by the recent floods.

Other topics were ways of better including indigenous connections between the United States and Aotearoa New Zealand, and increased engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, including through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

The Mayor briefed the Ambassador on his vision of a single, integrated, all-modes transport plan for Auckland, including the return of Auckland’s prime waterfront space, currently used by Ports of Auckland Ltd, to mixed use.

He told the Ambassador that he and Auckland Council would like to learn more about how US cities had achieved waterfront transformations of the type envisaged for Auckland, such as in Portland Oregon.

© Scoop Media