'; ?> Daylight saving feedback | What The People Want
Daylight saving feedback
Tuesday, 11 October 2005 01:53 | Written by Graham Young

We haven't made any allowance for qualitative responses on our most recent polls - that's because of time constraints - but that doesn't mean that we aren't receiving some. Philip Orr writes:

Dear Graham, I have responeded to your current questionaire regarding Daylight saving but was disappointed to find just a single question. While I wholeheartedly support Daylight Saving, I don't support split time zones but have had to answer in favour. [Note: We've only allowed for that option because that is the only active proposal at the moment. GY] Specifically:- That Queensland doesn't have DS is ridiculous. Even with daylight saving, the sun would set on Queensland's North-West earlier than it does in the South-West of NSW WITHOUT daylight saving. I hear people say it doesn't work in Queensland but they cannot provide a LOGICAL reason to explain why it works in other States but doesn't work here. That Qld is hot is not in question, but it is NO HOTTER than other parts of the country (eg inland western NSW) where daylight saving works very well and people have become adjusted to it. For a State that relies so heavily on tourism and in particular activities that make use of daylight hours, we should be doing everything we can to increase the amount of sunshine people can use each day. Currently the working day is biased too much to the end of daylight hours preventing people from making good use of after work time for leisure. Offsetting Qld's time by 1 hour actually reduces business contact time with southern states by 4 hours every day. Why? Because Southern states start an hour earlier (1 hour lost), they go to lunch an hour earlier (1 hour lost), return from lunch as Qld is going to lunch (1 hour lost) and finish work 1 hour earlier (1 hour lost) -total contact time lost is therefore 4 hours! The National Party claim Queenslanders have already had their say in a referendum and we don't need another one. Well, as a new Queenslander, I haven't had my say and if its good enough for Republicans to start talking about a new referendum just a few years after the previous one, its certainly good enough for the people of Queensland to be given another say DECADES after the previous one. I don't understand why the Liberal and Labor partied don't just do it and make it a fait accompli. They both have DS as a policy and as far as DS is concerned, the National Party could essentially be made irrelevant on the issue!
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Comments   

 
0 #111 Comment — Mark 2007-10-09 03:57
I do appreciate the arguments for some WA residents to reject the idea of daylight saving but feel that the benefits are not being addressed properly. How wonderful to get home from work and still have daylight rather than simply looking out of the window during the day and seeing the non-working population and outdoor workers enjoying the sun. If people with young families don't like putting their children to bed when it's still daylight, imagine what it's like in many Northern Hemisphere countries where it's still light at 10:00 pm - just get used to it.

We in WA live in a truly amazing State and extra daylight allows us to enjoy the beauty even more, without having to close our doors and switch on the lights. Enjoy the daylight, there's enough dark in winter.
 
 
+1 #112 Comment — elliott 2007-10-15 19:23
I personally support the motion to split the state of queensland into two different time zones. By doing this it will allow the southeast corner more light and what will seem a longer day. This will also allow the northern and western pasts of queensland to function as normal without the issue of daylight saving being brought up. The only problem is that the parts that are chosen for the daylight savings could be near a neighbouring town the is not affected by daylight savings, this is the oonly problme facing the split time zones in Queensland.
 
 
0 #113 Comment — Donna 2007-10-21 20:32
What is wrong with you people? Are you so hyped up that you can't sit back, relax, and enjoy the Qld summer mornings? It's the only time of the day that is cool enough to chill out. Slow down for pete's sake and lower your blood pressure. If you want to start work earlier - do it! There will be less traffic. As for referendums - do it Australia wide and include a winter option and an all year round option. Nothing upsets the body clock more than changing to another time zone.
 
 
0 #114 Comment — paul 2007-10-22 01:07
when people talk about the people in the northern hemisfere going to bed when it is still light they seem to forget that it is also freezing cold and to go to bed to get warm is a good option.

so please dont make comparisons to cold climates when it is a hot climate here in australia.

i live in north qld and ds is one of the most hedious things here .we have tried it and it just does not work ,
when people talk about the benefits , what are they realy , just more leisure time , which in reality is a falisy.as most people will not go to the beach or will not spend it with the kids they will most likely stay at work or just spend the time drinking .
there is no real benefits to the general public, maybe a few benefits too a few businesses. and i realy dont know of to many employees that would be happy to change their life style so the company they work for can be better of,
so please dont come with the idea that we will all benefit because in reality we wont .
 
 
0 #115 Comment — M ODonnell 2007-10-23 06:37
I hate Daylight Saving with passion, having experienced it it Townsville when it was trialled in Queensland. When we finished school in daylight saving time it was far too hot to 'enjoy' being outside. By the time it was cool enough I was tired and it felt like a very long day, having had to get up earlier than I chose. The dictates of our body clocks are disturbed too. Eating before dark and watching the news in daylight! Before long teachers, students and parents were irritable.

A look at a map will show that Townsville is further west than Roma and a bit east of Cunnamulla and Charleville so our sunrise is later than in the south-east corner. How far north one lives is also relevant in this sun cancer capital of the world.

Schools now try to arrange play times so that children are less exposed to the sun. With daylight saving they will be going home and out to play in high UV time. How many of us adults have suffered sun damage or lost people to melonoma?

Points I think should be considered are:


1. Exposure to the sun in the high UV part of the day. HEALTH!
2. There are valid reasons for saying that the north (of Australia) is different from the southern temperate regions. GEOGRAPHY.
3. There are so many ways to communicate these days that I don't believe the different time zones can be such a problem for business - let them use electronic equipment or employ some willing workers for flexible hours.
4. I am affronted to think that BUSINESS would try to dictate the lifestyle of so many people. The 'extra' hours of sunlight don't mean that we have any more money to spend.
5. Let the southern states justify the use of daylight saving, rather than coerce us into joining them. Surely the people in southern states also dislike having their lives disrupted. (I do realise that they have a much greated quota of sunlight in summer than they have in winter.)
6. WHO BENEFITS? Businessmen of families?
 
 
0 #116 Comment — donna 2007-10-27 23:00
A thought - why do we enjoy weekends and holidays so much? .... because we can sleep in ....!!!!!
 
 
0 #117 Comment — Chris 2007-10-30 21:17
If Queensland does not want DS then don’t have it! You Queenslanders are running your state not us in the southern states! Personally I am like 97.9% of New South Welshmen and we don’t give a hoot about Queensland. Australia as a whole is a fantastic place and each state has its fantastic attributes. Queensland has beautiful beaches and xlnt weather...but I do not wish to live there. This whole DS thing is just a state Vs state argument driven by a minority of politicians and people who have nothing better to do with their lives. Queensland people do not want to not have DS. End of subject. Who cares anyway...It’s like Victorians who try to convince the world that their state is better than NSW because they are the Sporting Mecca of the world and they have better restaurant, better shopping. Good on them! They probably do..but who cares!!!!! I am an Australian and I travel to all the states and enjoy each of the great attributes that you have to offer. I just came back from the fantastic Margret River in WA and beautiful Perth. Had to change my watch for a week but I’m still alive with no side effects. Just to let you know, I am a shift worker in the Blue Mountains NSW and you don’t see me carrying on like a broken toy about DS. Get over it, Live with it, vote it out or in. Just shut the winging. If your business cant trade with Queensland because of DS, stuff them and trade with Vanuatu...they on the same time as Eastern States.
 
 
0 #118 Comment — Embarrased 2008-01-28 19:46
The thing that distresses me most about the comments here are the insults baing thrown around aswell as some extremely biggoted comments. I have lived in 3 countries in Europe, 4 different states in Australia ( I am an Australian by the way) and it is horrible to hear all the nasty things people say to each other because they come from a different state. I live in qld but consider myself to be an Asutralian. Thats it. I am an Australin who lives in Qld and the comments like if you dont like it move away are embarrasing to hear. When i lived overseas i was constantly trying to make other nationalities realise that Australians aren't all biggots, and yet reading some comments here make me begin to doubt myself. I think the fact the most people have not even commented, or responded to the intelligent postings on this site says a lot. By intelligent postings i mean the ones that actually discuss the latitude and longitude and how this generally affects those who want DLS or not. As a statistician i can assure you that most of the 'Facts' people have posted (and i use the word fact very lightly) are actually opinions of their friends. Now many people think that as they have talked to others who also agree with thier opinion that they have evidence for their view. However, you need to consider this, (yes it is a generalisation, but not an inaccurate one.. i could go through study cases but would take too much time.) many friends of yours are ones who are in the same town, or workplace, and this leads to common opinions.

I would like to address the comments about the hour in the morning Vs the hour in the evening. When people have said that they would like the extra hour in the evening, and others have come back with the comment, just get up and go jogging etc in the morning, i think you have missed the point. While some people do make use of the time in the morning a significantly larger amount of people dont have time to do the things in the morning hour, that could be done by adding on the daylight hour to the afternoon. They are trying to stress that the reason for wanting the hour in the evening, is for lifestyle reasons. For example, A bbq with friends, playing with the kids in the park, maybe going for an afternoon drive.. these are things that, with the hour added to the amount of light already available after work, would make the most of these events... and no they would not be possible to do if the hour of light was available in the morning instead.
There is also the issue that SEQ already is light a 4am so for people to have light at 5am instead but light till later would probably benefit them more. On the other hand, for people who live in Northern qlds the hours of daylight are different in this part of the state and many from SEQ do not fully understand how these people would be affected.
Someone made a comments about kids and being out in the heat. I can assure you that the part of the day you really need to be concerned about is when the children are at school anyway, Regardless of wether you have DLS or not. SO this comment is irrelevant.

I dont not believe that QLD has to have the one time zone and think that the state would benefit from having the southern section follow DLS and the northern stay as is. But this is my opinion based on reasearch i have conducted on advantages for the state vs disadvantages. These advantages are not realy existent in the whole state.

One thing i am not going to do is make biggoted comments like , go back to your own state, using the word mexicans ( as far as i am aware the only mexicans that exist actually live in Mexico), saying that qld should start to behave like the smart state, etc...

As i said, i think of myself as an Australian, not a queenslander, on a New South Welshman or any of the others labels i could choose to attach to myself. And i fully expect everyone to have different opinions on the topic based on their feelings and experiences, but PLEASE, dont let what other nationalities say about Australians be true. Lets demonstrate that we are not a bunch of redneck illiterates and actually post some well planned out arguments.
 
 
0 #119 Dr — Michael Hoare 2014-04-01 15:14
I live in northern NSW and I do not like daylight saving. I like the early morning time, better for surfing and other exercise. With daylight saving running longer the sun is rising later than mid winter in October and March. Four months a year would be plenty. The closer you are to the equator, the shorter the twilights are. Therefore in the southern states daylight saving has greater benefits, in north Qld, short twilight so it will be dark quickly. So I think Qld is on the right track, you don not need it!