Staff and spectators: Reporting Parliament
The press gallery, above and behind the Speaker's chair in the debating chamber. View as panorama.
Whether it has been Hansard ― the official record of parliamentary debates ― or newspaper reports of parliamentary activities and government decisions, the reporting of Parliament has been an important part of the parliamentary story.
Hansard
When New Zealand established a Hansard service in 1867, it was one of the world's first independent and official records of parliamentary debates. Today, Hansard is recorded first on digital audiotape, but for most of its history, Hansard reporters had to be top-of-the-line shorthand reporters reaching speeds of 180 words and more a minute ― without mistakes. They had to understand political affairs and parliamentary procedures, and in the days when MPs peppered their speeches with Latin quotations and literary allusions, the Hansard reporters had to know what these meant.
Did you know?
That Hansard takes its name from Thomas Hansard, whose family firm printed the debates in the British Parliament for over 60 years from the early nineteenth century? New Zealand is not the only country to call its official debates by this name; so too, does Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Zimbabwe.
Before 1867, politicians and public alike relied on newspapers to get reports of what had gone on in the House. Perhaps because they didn't want to pay newspapers for this, MPs found their speeches misquoted and votes recorded incorrectly, and some newspapers refused to record proceedings in depth. Newspaper editor C.C.N Barron offered to manage a parliamentary staff of reporters for a trial period which proved so successful that he continued as Chief Hansard Reporter for the next 29 years.
The Hansard staff was all male for many years. Women were thought to be unsuited ― physically and temperamentally ― to the work and long hours. The first two women were appointed in 1962, and since then women have come to dominate the staff; the last male reporter retired in 1979.
See film from 1965 showing Parliament Hansard reporters at work.
Read one of the songs poking fun at politicians, made up by Hansard staff in the 1950s.
External link
The latest Hansard on the Office of the Clerk's website.
The Press Gallery
The press gallery above the Speaker's chair, 1906.
From the very first days, New Zealand's press had full access to Parliament, unlike their British counterparts. MPs needed journalists desperately, because there was no one else to record what went on in the chamber, even if these records could be full of mistakes. Some of them were full of bias, too, because several early MPs owned newspapers, and doctored reports of the day's proceedings. By the 1870s, the press gallery was a more or less independent group, reporting on debates and parliamentary life, and running cartoons and satire about politics and MPs. The place was an important training ground for some of the country's top journalists.
The relationship between press and politicians has always been an awkward one. MPs have not always liked how they have been reported, and have not enjoyed being ignored. In the 1890s Premier Richard Seddon tried to force the Evening Post to name its source of information for a story critical of him. When the journalist refused, Seddon attempted to have him banned from Parliament. Other MPs were only too keen to pass on information to journalists, even if it led to problems. In 1901 Parliament fined the senior pressman in the gallery £15 for publishing select committee information early. In 1929, actions like this were formally made breaches of privilege under standing orders.
As question time and competition for stories between newspapers heated up in the 1970s, sensationalist themes appeared more frequently in news reports. The government and politics, rather than actions in the House, became the focus. The gallery itself was crowded, with 50 or 60 accredited journalists and more demanding entry. Some politicians interfered in the gallery ― in 1984 the government tried to make the journalists pay rent for their office space in Parliament House. Now, the media is more usually regarded as an important and useful resource, and parties and ministers have their own press staff.
Hear the poem 'The Gallery Boys', about the press gallery in the 1890s (142k, mp3). See transcript of this poem.
Hear the poem 'Breach of Privilege', about tensions between Parliament and journalists in 1898 (185k, mp3). See transcript of this poem.
The Men's Club
'Birds'-Eye' was the pen name of one of the women who reported on Parliament in the 1890s. This is a detail from the masthead that was used for her column in the New Zealand Graphic.
Women have been reporting on Parliament since the 1880s, but it was not until 1965 that the first woman, Fran Collett, was appointed to the press gallery ― and she had to agree to keep out of the bar, the source of some of the best political stories. Early on, women reported instead from the ladies' gallery, but they still managed to send their stories to some major papers. Women's success in gaining the vote in 1893 made them more interested in politics, and the number of women reporters grew in the 1890s. Forrest Ross wrote as 'Pamela' and her reports appeared in the Press as 'Peeps at Parliament'. Stella Henderson, a law graduate, was another early woman reporter in the House. She had to write her articles from the ladies' tearoom after the press gallery refused to allow her paper, the Lyttelton Times, to give her its press gallery seat.
External link
'Meet the journalists' on the Parliamentary Service website.
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