millier's musings

Perth CBD

Daylight saving ends 29 March 2009 ….. Set clocks back one hour.

If the vote is no, are we setting back our thinking by 100 years?

We’re about to have a referendum in Western Australia about daylight saving.  It’s probably going to be one of the hottest topics around.  Barbies will be buzzing, pubs will be prattling and radios will be ranting about this incredibly divisive issue.

So what are the arguments for and against?

Well, the primary producers don’t like having to get up in the dark, nor do city people who have early shifts.  People with kids complain that it causes disruption to their sleep patterns.  And then there’s the stories about fading curtains and cows not milking properly.

On the positive side, I hear stories of families enjoying being able to share time outdoors walking and playing in the park before they head for the couch and the blue flickering screen.  I’ve also heard it said that there’s a reduction in pedestrian fatalities due to increased daylight hours in the evening.  People who finish work can come home and have time to enjoy some leisure time with a little more daylight.  There’s also the greater ease of contacting the eastern states of Australia during their business hours.

Pollies will milk this for all it’s worth and WA Premier Colin Barnett has attempted to curry favour with the electorate by declaring his no vote long before the referendum.

For those undecided among you, let’s just examine the facts.

In Europe during summer, the sun goes down around 10pm and in some parts of Scandinavia it comes up again at 1am.  How do they cope?  Curtains.  Not a new-fangled invention by any stretch of the imagination.  And in winter, the sun barely comes up at all!  Somehow their kids manage to deal with the slings and arrows of outrageous sleep disruption.

There is a strong argument that our hot climate isn’t suited to daylight saving.  Maybe it could be shown that our use of airconditioners would be lessened if we didn’t have daylight saving.  Maybe if we DID have daylight saving, there’d be renewed debate about extended trading hours in the city so the place doesn’t shut down altogether after business hours.

It’s going to be close, so get down to your local barbie, pub or talkback radio station and have your say.  There’s a whole hour of daylight at stake here!

For another link to the whys and wherefores of daylight saving try visiting “Daylight Saving Time: What’s the point?”

What will YOU say to your kids when they are older and ask how you voted on May 16th 2009? If your answer is you voted no, you’d better have a plausible, rational reason for them.