CHRF News – Jan-March 2008
Contents
1. Commonwealth Hansard Editors Association Conference
2. Hansard Association of Canada Conference
3. Northern Ireland Assembly Happenings
4. Australasian and Pacific Hansard Editors Association Conference
5. Elections, Elections, Elections!
6. International Parliamentary Broadcasting Network
7. British-Irish Parliamentary Reporting Association Conference
Commonwealth Hansard Editors Association Conference
The next CHEA conference will be hosted by Westminster and the Scottish parliament between 27 July and 1 August 2008 , with delegates moving between London and Edinburgh . The theme of the conference will be 'Hansard—linking Parliament with the people'. Some of the events of the conference include presentations on the Hansard Centenary Volume and electronic access to Hansard reports; cafe-style debates; and a ceilidh.
Hansard Association of Canada Conference
This year the conference of the Hansard Association of Canada will take place in Fredericton , New Brunswick , from 25 to 29 August, and in 2009 it will take place in Regina , Saskatchewan .
In 2010 it will be held for the first time on beautiful Prince Edward Island . Hansardians from all over are welcome! It will be a historic moment, so, if you are curious about Anne's Land, you've got plenty of time to think about coming over to visit!
For more information on the conferences, visit http://www.hansard.ca/ . To receive a user ID and password for the Hansard Association of Canada members-only page, contact .
Northern Ireland Assembly Happenings
As you will probably have gathered, power has been restored to the Northern Ireland Assembly. On a truly historic day at Stormont, Ian Paisley became First Minister of Northern Ireland, and Martin McGuinness became Deputy First Minister. Ministers were appointed to the other government departments, and it is now all systems go for the local administration. There has been an extensive programme of recruitment across the Assembly, including a competition for parliamentary reporters. For more info, log on to www.niassembly.gov.uk
Australasian and Pacific Hansard Editors Association Conference
The 23rd annual Australasian and Pacific Hansard Editors Association (APHEA) Conference was held in Brisbane, Queensland in January 2007. The President of the association for the next three years is Lucinda Osmond from Queensland and the Secretary is Jenny Batchler from Tasmania .
New Zealand senior subeditor Maureen Lee presented a paper comparing the editing of various parliaments. This showed that the majority of respondents were within a similar range. The key criterion agreed was that an editor should be able to justify any changes made.
Most Australian parliaments using voice recognition technology are using Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 9. It was agreed that this version is a big improvement on earlier versions but not yet advanced enough to be used for anything other than as a method of inputting copy.
The parliaments of Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have all held regional sittings in the past five years. These have generally gone well and not resulted in delays in the publishing of daily Hansards.
ACT Hansard initiated a discussion on benchmarking and performance indicators. Some clerks have raised the issue of benchmarking the provision of parliamentary services. This raises the question: should Hansards think about standardising performance measures? Members generally assess performance in two key areas: timeliness (the turnaround times for daily turns and the final transcript) and quality (the number of significant errors identified by subeditors or parliamentarians). The Australian federal parliament and the New Zealand parliament record statistics on these through the Hansard Production System.
Elections, Elections, Elections!
2007 was a year for elections, Australia and Ireland being two of the countries that went to the polls last year. Here is a brief summary of the results:
Australia: The Australian people went to the polls on 24 November 2007, resulting in a change of government. The new Labor Party government is led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The new parliament will begin sitting on 12 February. One change this year is that parliament will now sit on Fridays, but for 18 weeks in the year, not 20.
Ireland: The Irish general election of 2007 took place on 24 May 2007. Although Fine Gael (the United Ireland Party) gained 20 seats, Fianna Fáil (the Republican Party) continues to be the largest party in the Irish Oireachtas (Parliament). On 14 June 2007 Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats formed a coalition government, which is also supported by four Independent TDs ( Teachta Dála —that is, member of the Dáil Éireann, or lower chamber). Bertie Ahern was re-elected Taoiseach (Prime Minister).
International Parliamentary Broadcasting Network
The Broadcasting section of the Australian federal parliament is currently organising an international network for staff in other parliamentary audio-visual services. The group will be called the International Parliamentary Broadcasting Network, and its website will be launched later this year. The website will provide a forum to discuss and share information on work practices, resource management, the use of technology and other aspects of providing broadcasting services within a parliamentary environment. Anyone interested in following up this area should contact Vlodek Skiba, Director of Broadcasting, Department of Parliamentary Services, Australian Parliament [ ].
British-Irish Parliamentary Reporting Association Conference
The 2006 BIPRA annual conference, the fifth BIPRA conference to be held, was a great success. Hosted by the National Assembly for Wales (NAW) in their magnificent new building overlooking the Cardiff Bay, Hansard staff from around the British Isles enjoyed a very informative three-day conference. Sessions included practical editing exercises, a review of the past year in each of the legislatures represented, and discussions on training and development, Hansard's relations with the media and voice recognition technology. The Presiding Officer of the NAW, Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas hosted a reception for guests, and Paul Silk, the Clerk to the NAW, performed the official opening.
There were also very interesting sessions on digitising historical Hansards from the Stormont parliaments of 1921 to 1972 and a hugely stimulating talk by John Pullinger, the Librarian in the House of Commons, on the topics of 'The voice of the people' and 'The paradox of change'. Needless to say, the conference dinner went splendidly, and delegates even found time to visit the Millennium Stadium. The clear consensus was that that conference had been informative, interesting and enjoyable, thanks in no small measure to the efforts of staff in the Recording of Proceedings Office in the NAW.
The 2007 BIPRA annual conference was hosted by the Northern Ireland Assembly and held at Stormont in Belfast from 5 to 8 August 2007 . For more information on the conference, please contact BIPRA Secretary, Simon Burrowes [ ].
Tell me more, tell me more
Let us know if you have any Hansard-related news on trends and developments in your area. Send your information to Ian Dewar [ ].