Buzz
SOMETHING missing from state Parliament this year will be unguarded pictures of politicians in action – asleep, drunk, angry, picking their nose or crying. Newly-installed TV cameras will be under the control of the Speaker after the Chamber reopens on February 26.
A committee last year decided that introducing Parliament’s own in-house television coverage will give them far greater control of what’s seen on TV screens. Output from the five cameras will provide a pool feed to media organisations.
The committee saw it more positively however, saying that removing independent TV coverage from the floor of Parliament will “…reduce the occupational health, and safety and security risks currently existing in coverage from the public gallery.”
There are two broadcast-quality cameras on each side of the House of Assembly, another one under the clock, plus a roving (live eye) camera, for those hard-to-reach committees.
Paul Harriss was chairman of the committee that signed off on the $4.5 million proposal in February 2008. Recurrent expenses are estimated at $120,000 annually.
“We will be looking at contracting a production firm in to provide the necessary expertise, so that Parliament would not be employing anyone directly as a parliamentary official. It will be a contractual situation,” said Mr Harriss.
Hobart company Winning Post Productions will provide the expertise (and three camera operators) required.
http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ctee/REPORTS/Parliament%20House%20Works.pdf
The proposed Television Broadcast System will:
• Provide improved public access to the proceedings of the Parliament of Tasmania.
• Reduce the occupational health, and safety and security risks currently existing in coverage from the public gallery.
• Provide a High Definition TV broadcast service system, remotely controlled through a Broadcast Standard control room.
• Provide a composite signal (audio and visual) streamed from both the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council Chambers to defined outlets within the Media Room.
• Provide an audio and visual signal streamed from both the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council Chambers to Hansard.
• Make a program composite available for live streaming TV over IP to Parliament House and other executive or nominated buildings on IP addresses as required to allow users to view the proceedings of Parliament on their computer.
• Provide the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council with dedicated cameras and the two nominated Committee Rooms, with portable cameras. All cameras will be interchangeable to allow for quick replacement and maintenance as required.
Mr WALLBANK (Winning Post) – No, I haven’t any detail on that But in Queensland there has been a hell of a lot of interest from remote areas. I think your earlier comment was that the whole idea is to provide an opportunity for those people outside the urban areas to have the same access without having to hop in a car and drive from Stanley or Smithton to Hobart to view the Parliament in action.
Today’s Mercury (page 11) had a feature about the changes to Parliament. Did you know they’ve enclosed (glassed-in) at the public gallery! No more public interjections. No more photos.
Shame!
I’ve scanned the picture from The Mercury so you can see what I mean.
And, in reponse to Barry Brannan’s comment that photographic equipment was banned from the chamber – it’s not true Barry, just look at this view of
the public gallery, chockers with cameramen, two of them from the ABC.
And I took it from the press gallery opposite in 2004:
Buzz
[No more photos? You were never allowed to bring photographic equipment into the chamber previously either.
There is a good pic on http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ha/chamber.htm
Interestingly I count 34 seats in the outer areas. Just one short of what we would need to return to 35 members of parliament.
Posted by Barry Brannan on 18/02/09 at 08:13 AM]
