Media Release

28 August 2006

www.parliament.nz opens Parliament to the world

Parliament has a new website from today – www.parliament.nz – making it easier to find out what is happening in Parliament and to access Parliamentary information.

www.parliament.nz has a completely different look and feel to the old site, and provides a much clearer and easier way of getting Parliamentary information, the Speaker, Hon Margaret Wilson, said today.

The old website address www.parliament.govt.nz has been replaced with www.parliament.nz.

It includes navigation tools in English and Māori and a much improved search facility. The language has been simplified to improve accessibility especially for people with disabilities.

The new website makes it easy to find and track where a bill is in the parliamentary process. All information about the bill, including the bill itself, Hansard, select committee reports and supplementary order papers will be linked together, Ms Wilson said.

The home page of www.parliament.nz shows whether the House is sitting, what’s new in Parliament, easily accessible links to select committee activity and how Parliament works.

‘Revamping the website will make it easier for people to connect with Parliament, who’s who in Parliament and what is happening in any given week.

‘www.parliament.nz will play an important role in the smooth operation of Parliament and provide a window to Parliament’s work.’

The integration of the information held across three different websites (Office of the Clerk, the Parliamentary Service and Speaker of the House) now allows a ‘one stop shop’ for access to information.

The design, layout and search function makes it much easier to access information. Users of the previous sites generally had to know where information was to access it, Ms Wilson said.

Further work and developments on the new site are planned including the ability to subscribe to automatic alerts to tell users about material of interest to them.

While many features change in the new website, the email addresses of people working in Parliament will stay the same.

ENDS

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