Title: Official Guide to the Government Court: N.Z. Centennial Exhibition

Author: Centennial Branch

Publication details: Centennial Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1940, Wellington

Part of: The New Zealand Centennial Publications

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Government Printing & Stationery Department

The Department was established, on a very modest scale, at Auckland in 1864,  State printing requirements being handled by a staff of 10, the present staff numbering over 600. On the removal of the seat of Government to Wellington in 1865,  the staff and equipment were transferred also, and established on the site now occupied by the Avon Hotel in Lambton Quay, opposite the present premises. Shortly afterwards, the supply of stationery to Government Departments was undertaken by the steadily-growing organisation. As the colony developed and the functions of government expanded, so the Department increased in size, and the extent of its operations widened. In 1885 further accommodation was provided by the erection page 42 of a new brick building on the present site, this building, with further additions, being still in use. Later, increasing work made further expansions necessary and, in 1897, the brick frontage to Lambton Quay was added. The present group of buildings was completed by the erection, in 1915, of the large three-story wing, in reinforced concrete and brick, facing Featherston Street.

Work of This Department

State printing requirements of all descriptions are dealt with by this Department, which, through the Stationery Branch, also supplies to other Departments all their stationery requirements.

With the years and the growth of the Dominion, old-established State activities have increased their operations, and new Departments have been set up. As a natural result, the work handled by this Department has steadily increased in volume, and, with the rapid progress of printing invention, in variety of machinery and processes. The Government Printing and Stationery Department is now capable of handling all the classes of work required by Government Departments. In a short account of this nature, it is not possible to describe in detail the different operations, but a brief review of the various types of work executed may be of interest.

These are: First in importance, the requirements of Parliament, such as Hansard, Order Papers, Bills, Reports and Statutes, which are executed during the session of Parliament; then the New Zealand Gazette, published weekly, the official channel for proclamations, Statutory Regulations and other official announcements, followed by Telephone Directories, Education Gazette, School Journals, Awards of the Arbitration Court, Lands and Survey Department Maps, Government Publicity Folders, Pamphlets and Posters,' Trade and Shipping Reports and other statistical publications. The foregoing list is by no means exhaustive, and does not take into account the printing of multitudinous forms for the Departments. It indicates, however, that the products of this Department are read or used by practically everyone in the Dominion.