We invit­ed all can­di­dates in Welling­ton elec­torates to con­tact us with their answers to fif­teen crowd­sourced ques­tions. Answers are restrict­ed to 30 words each, and we pub­lish them exact­ly as we receive them. 

  1. Who are you and what do you want?
    Annette King, MP for Ron­go­tai (& Chatham Islands). I want to con­tin­ue to be your local MP, so vote for me and par­ty vote Labour.
  2. You have 30 sec­onds to con­vince some­one to come to Welling­ton. What’s your pitch?
    Come to the City that knows how to hold a par­ty! The Sev­ens, it’s our Car­ni­val!!
  3. Where do you stand on the issue of open­ing up gov­ern­ment data?
    I’m for it.
  4. Describe your bicy­cle, or your favourite bus route?
    The bike my hus­band gave me for my birth­day 5 years ago (plus bike pants to go with it!!). Bus — Hataitai to Lambton Quay.
  5. When did you last use the library, a com­mu­ni­ty cen­tre, or a coun­cil-run sports facil­i­ty?
    Island Bay Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­tre last week for the launch of the Time Bank. Wake­field Park on Sat­ur­day for Indi­an Foot­ball Tour­na­ment.
  6. Would you wel­come a cen­tral gov­ern­ment dri­ven “super-city” amal­ga­ma­tion of local author­i­ties?
    It’s the peo­ple who should decide. No Bee­hive edict in Welling­ton.
  7. What city inspires your vision for Welling­ton? How?
    Welling­ton itself. The city has devel­oped its own brand­ing, style and sense of iden­ti­ty.
  8. Is the con­cept of demo­c­ra­t­ic rep­re­sen­ta­tion impor­tant to you? How so?
    Absolute­ly. The alter­na­tive is far too scary.
  9. What achieve­ment for Welling­ton are you most proud of?
    After years of wait­ing, get­ting Welling­ton a new pub­lic hos­pi­tal and if I’m allowed, anoth­er – help­ing to save Marunui Surf Club & Café!
  10. What role do you think cen­tral gov­ern­ment should play in local roading/public trans­port issues?
    As the fund­ing comes from Cen­tral Gov­ern­ment, it has to be involved, but best plans come from an agreed Region­al Trans­port Plan.
  11. How can we make Welling­ton more envi­ron­men­tal­ly friend­ly?
    Add land to the Green Belt, con­tin­ue the tree plant­i­ng pro­gramme. Open a 2nd tun­nel through Mt Vic­to­ria, future-proofed for light-rail.
  12. What will you do to ensure diverse rep­re­sen­ta­tion on gov­ern­ment issues?
    Keep “local” in the role of MPs, so I know what my con­stituents think.
  13. What’s your per­son­al his­to­ry of liv­ing in Welling­ton?
    Arrived 30 years ago. Became a Den­tal Tutor at Willis street Den­tal clin­ic, bought a house in Evans Bay Parade, stayed in the East­ern Sub­urbs.
  14. What pol­i­cy of your par­ty do you think will have the most impact on Welling­ton?
    Afford­able, high qual­i­ty & acces­si­ble Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion. The young fam­i­lies in Ron­go­tai want their kids to have the best start.
  15. Do you gen­uine­ly believe you have a chance at win­ning the seat you’re con­test­ing, or is this more of a par­ty cam­paign?
    Yes, and I’m cam­paign­ing for both.