Australian High Commission
Canada
Address: Suite 710, 50 O'Connor Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 6L2 - Tel: 613-236-0841 - Fax: 613-236-4376

AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION
OTTAWA

MEDIA RELEASE

CPAC BEGINS COVERAGE OF AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT

23 September 2009

Canada’s public affairs channel, CPAC, will begin coverage of Australian parliamentary proceedings this week following a recent agreement between CPAC and its Australian counterpart, the Australian Public Affairs Channel (A-PAC).

CPAC will be broadcasting A-PAC’s ‘Question Time Highlights’ program for the first time as part of its World Showcase timeslot on Saturday, 26 September at 5:00 p.m. (ET).

The program will feature the key segments from Question Time in the House of Representatives (i.e. the House of Commons) from Canberra.

CPAC hopes to schedule the program on an ongoing basis when the Australian Parliament is in session*.

Question Time is the period when the intensity of partisan politics is most clearly manifested in the proceedings of the Australian Parliament. Under the current arrangements, the Government and Opposition take turns to ask questions without notice to the Prime Minister and ministers. Question Time occurs on every sitting day of the Parliament and in recent times it has usually continued for well over an hour.

Question Time is televised in Australia (by the public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and Question Time footage is used extensively in television news bulletins.

For further details on CPAC programming (including channel details for your area) visit: www.cpac.ca. More information on A-PAC is available at www.a-pac.tv.

*Sitting times for the Australian Parliament for the remainder of 2009:
19-29 October
16-26 November