What is the Hansard in Parliament?
We have been asked by one of our readers “What is the Hansard in Parliament?”
Our blogging team answer this here:
Hansard is the name given to transcripts of parliamentary proceedings. The Senate and House of Representatives Hansards are available on the Internet each morning following a sitting day. Hansards of Committee hearings are also available online. These transcripts are published shortly after the committee meets.
Here is an example of a ‘Hansard Transcript’ dated 13th October 2011 covering Mr Ian Lazar being defamed in Parliament under parliamentary privilege.
Document Source : Parliament of Australia – It is publish under the terms of the Parliament of Australia website’s copyright license for educational purposes only.
Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) is the official name of the transcripts of debates in the Australian Parliament. New Zealand was one of the first countries to establish an independent team of Hansard reporters, 42 years before the British (Imperial) Parliament. An official record of debates has been kept continuously since 9 July 1867. Speeches made in the House of Representatives and the Legislative Council between 1867 and the commencement of Parliament in 1854 were compiled in 1885 from earlier newspaper reports, and this compilation also forms part of the New Zealand Hansard record.
The Hansard takes its name from Thomas Curson Hansard, who started publishing a daily record of proceedings in the British Parliament in the early 19th century.
++ This post is for educational purposes only.
