28 February 2008
Question Time to be replayed on Parliament TV
Parliament TV is to replay Question Time and debates from the Chamber, enabling viewers who miss the live coverage to
watch later in the evening.
Question Time on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays will be replayed twice the same evening: first during Parliament’s
dinner-break from 6pm to 7.30pm and second after the House has risen at 10pm. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays there will be
live coverage from the Chamber from 7.30pm to 10pm. On Thursdays, when the House does not sit in the evening, all
proceedings from 2pm to 6pm will be replayed from 6pm.
The Speaker, Hon Margaret Wilson, says not everybody interested in Parliament is able to watch the proceedings and
debates live.
‘I expect the replays, starting next Tuesday, to significantly increase the accessibility of Parliament for those people
who have an interest in seeing how our laws are made or who wish to see how their MP performs in the House.’
Since becoming Speaker in March 2005, Ms Wilson has made improved access to Parliament a priority. She has approached
this progressively from a number of points:
- A new website www.parliament.nz makes it easier to find out what is happening in Parliament and to access
Parliamentary information
- Radio coverage of Parliamentary debates has been increased so that 81% of the population can now hear Parliamentary
broadcasts on Radio New Zealand’s AM network
- Parliamentary broadcasts are streamed live or are available to view on a number of websites, including Radio NZ’s and
Parliament’s
- The full unedited proceedings of Parliament are screened live on SKY 94, Freeview 22 and TelstraClear 94.
‘Next week’s replays, which will also be webcast, will make a difference for a lot of people,’ she said.
Parliament sits for approximately 17.5 hours per week for more than 30 weeks of the year. For details of sitting dates
and times go to: http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/ThisWk/
The replays will begin on Tuesday 4 March 2008.
ENDS