Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Beehive Web Site Launch

22 April, 2002

Cabinet Ministers' speeches and policy documents dating back to the mid-1990s are available on a newly upgraded web site that went live on Monday 15 April.

More than 20,000 documents are posted on www.beehive.govt.nz, ranging from a plea to the French issued on Bastille Day 1995 to stop nuclear testing in the Pacific, to the latest Prime Ministerial release this week.

Originally offering just policy documents when it was first launched in July 1995, the site has subsequently expanded to offer all press releases and speeches issued by ministers. Around three million page views a year are handled by the site.

The new site has a number of improvements over the old one

- It has improved search functionality. Users can search documents by portfolio, as well as by minister. Under the old system it could be confusing when a user was searching for a document in a portfolio with a number of associate ministers - It hides complex technology allowing even the most hopeless techno-phobe to load documents onto the site using cut and paste methods. As such, material can now be posted to the site faster. - It has a consistent look and feel as opposed to the hodge-podge look of the previous site which evolved on an ad hoc basis.

It has used the executive.govt.nz domain but this week switched to beehive.govt.nz. Visitors to the old address will be redirected to the new site.

Records of the last three governments going back seven years are held on the site and can be accessed through an archives section.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

The new site is database-driven so beehive staffers can load and format material themselves. They can also pre-load information and set the time at which it is released to the public. Each minister has a list server to which the public can subscribe to have speeches and releases delivered to their e-mail.

Many ministers also publish their newsletters on the site

The upgrade was produced by Netco New Zealand. Graphics and database design was by Breathe Communications. John Spavin of Netco has maintained the site since its inception in 1995. It's hosted by One Squared.

Technical

The site makes extensive use of style sheets and uses Cold Fusion to manage an SQL database. It occupies approximately 800 megabytes of disk space.

Ends

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines


Gordon Campbell: On The US Opposition To Mortgage Interest Deductibility For Landlords


Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don't think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of political capital by giving landlords a huge $2.9 billion tax break via interest deductibility, while still preaching the need for austerity to the disabled, and to everyone else...
More


 
 

Government: Concerns Conveyed To China Over Cyber Activity
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity... More

ALSO:


Government: GDP Decline Reinforces Government’s Fiscal Plan

Declining GDP for the December quarter reinforces the importance of restoring fiscal discipline to public spending and driving more economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says... More

ALSO:


Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.