Petition for regional Qld daylight saving trial - ends 10th November

[sails]

For Queensland residents only:

I received an email yesterday regarding Qld Government E-Petition which is currently available to bring back daylight savings (on a trial basis) in Queensland, so thought I would pass the info on here should any others be interested.

The petition closes on 10 November, so if you support daylight savings, you can sign the petition which is available at the site below and let as many people know as possible.

The petition is on the Queensland Government's Parliament Petitions website.
http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/EPetitions_qld/CurrentEPetition.aspx?PetNum=931


Here are a couple of excerpts from the email:

This urgent petition requires as many signatures as possible and we encourage people to please forward this e-mail on to other Queenslanders who stand to benefit from daylight saving prior to the closing date being November 10th, 2007.

Following the late discovery of this petition (no mention of it in media), we'll be working 24/7 for Queensland voters to access it.

State wide daylight saving will NEVER be introduced by any political party.

However the Government research showed that a third of Queenslanders under the age of 35 (and a quarter overall) had NEVER heard of regional daylight saving.

The research concluded “There is a general lack of understanding by Queenslanders of the reasons for introducing two time zones”


How did the Government expect Queenslanders to support regional daylight saving if almost half of them didn’t know about it or understand it?

They didn’t.

I would therefore urge you to read and then forward the attached document to as many people as possible, sign the petition and hound your local MP if you support regional daylight saving for Queensland.

Cheers

 

[Smurf1976]

40 years later and we're still arguing about daylight saving in Australia.

I can see both sides of the argument in a place such as Qld (though it's hard to find anything but positives in Vic / Tas). But to my understanding quite a few businesses in Qld have adjusted their working hours and, in practice, their employees are already living a daylight savings lifestyle whether they realise it or not.

(Better keep out of Qld affairs otherwise my curtains will be faded and the cows will stop milking...).

 

[numbercruncher]

Biggest problem besides whinging farmers is that Qld is so big, It might be daylight on the Gold Coast starting 430am in summer but still dark in say mt isa, they need to divide the state for time zones i thinks.

 

[moneymajix]

NO!

 

[2020hindsight]

good enough for Broome

 

[blueroo]

Unfortunately, the Queensland media has a voracious appetite and to fill their fish and chip wrappers and airwaves, you can be sure the same old daylight saving story rears its tiresome head in October every year.

One wonders how business in WA has survived being 2 hours behind the east coast. If you listen to the daylight saving promoters in Qld, business here is at a severe disadvantage. What rot!

Odd that there is no petition against daylight saving.

 

[robandcoll]

I am from WA - Dont do it. QLD is the same as WA and we get heaps of sunshine. We do not need anymore

 

[Whiskers]

I am from WA - Dont do it. QLD is the same as WA and we get heaps of sunshine. We do not need anymore

I'm from country QLD and I agree with robandcoll.

Why should we have to suffer inconvienience to appease people who can't manage their time properly or just plain live in the wrong place.

What's with you people who want to fiddle with the time!

If there is not enough daylight where you are, move to somewhere where there is... like so many other southeners who are migrating to QLD.

Do you realise how much trouble you cause us in the rest of Aus when we try to deal interstate... stuffing around with different times.

It seems the main arguement used to justify the Daylight Saving Time notion is that a majority of people wants it. Well, the majority of people thought the world was flat once and they were wrong too.

 

[doctorj]

we get heaps of sunshine. We do not need anymore

I'm fairly certain, the WA Govt didn't ask the sun to extend its hours of sunshine on our great state. The point of daylight saving is that it "shifts" the hours of sunshine relative to the majority's working hours such that they can be better enjoyed/utilised.

A big fan of daylight saving here - I can go the beach and do the gardening after work in daylight. I don't feel like I'm risking life and limb 'finding 30' on the old push bike in the evenings.

How are your curtains?

 

[shaunnell]

Why don't the opponents let the proponents have their 'day in the sun' trial. If its so bad we can then go back to no daylight savings for another 20 years until it rears its head again.

 

[Smurf1976]

Is anyone up to take advantage of daylight at 4am?

Or have I missed the point?

 

[numbercruncher]

Is anyone up to take advantage of daylight at 4am?

Or have I missed the point?

Yah opposite direction Smurf, here on the GC, its light at 430am in Summer and dark at like 6pm or so, alot of us fancy having daybreak at 530am and some more light for the evening .....

 

[Whiskers]

Why don't the opponents let the proponents have their 'day in the sun' trial. If its so bad we can then go back to no daylight savings for another 20 years until it rears its head again.

You can. Just get up or go to work an hour earlier, (talk to your employer or negotiate a workplace agreement) without disrupting the rest of us that manage to work with nature just fine.

As doctor J says

The point of daylight saving is that it "shifts" the hours of sunshine relative to the majority's working hours such that they can be better enjoyed/utilised.

Same to you Doc. Just change your working hours or if more sunshine is more important move to where there is more sunshine.

There are many people particularly in rural Aus whose livelihood and work is determined by the natural cycle of things. Why do they have to suffer inconveince because you can't organise yourself to live in the natural cycle of things?

Why should we have to suffer unnecessary inconvienence in our daily work, our liveihood, just to give you a bit more free time in the afternoon, again I reiterate, because you cannot manage you time well or you chose to live in the wrong place?

I notice you state your self interest in wanting so called Daylight Saving Time in the afternoon, but heh, I and plenty others like a bit of sunshine in the morning too.

The weather and time is just fine here in Qld as it is. Just move to QLD (or WA or NT) and 'do unto others as you wish they do unto you'.

 

[Whiskers]

Is anyone up to take advantage of daylight at 4am?

Too right Smurf, and it is very refreshing.

I tell you what, come and visit QLD and stay on a working property or a fishing boat for a few days and you will love the early mornings.

 

[doctorj]

Same to you Doc. Just change your working hours or if more sunshine is more important move to where there is more sunshine.

Unless the majority of my clients also change working hours, changing isn't an option. Also, there are plenty of hours of sunshine - just I'd rather have them after work than before.

There are many people particularly in rural Aus whose livelihood and work is determined by the natural cycle of things. Why do they have to suffer inconveince because you can't organise yourself to live in the natural cycle of things?

I'm all confused by this arguement. Maybe it's just my ignorance - but how does one hour destroy the natural 'cycle of things'? For eg. if the cows are used to being milked at 11am... why not just milk them at 10? I doubt they keep time.

Why should we have to suffer unnecessary inconvienence in our daily work, our liveihood, just to give you a bit more free time in the afternoon, again I reiterate, because you cannot manage you time well or you chose to live in the wrong place?

It's not about managing time or the location I live.

I notice you state your self interest in wanting so called Daylight Saving Time in the afternoon, but heh, I and plenty others like a bit of sunshine in the morning too.

And I note you do as well. Just as well we live in a democracy!

 

[Whiskers]

Unless the majority of my clients also change working hours, changing isn't an option. Also, there are plenty of hours of sunshine - just I'd rather have them after work than before.

I understand your situation Doc, but my GP has a private practice and he organises to have an afternoon off ocassionally, and or take appointments earlier on an odd occassion to get a haircut and do other things. What is so set in stone that you can't change your hours?

It's not about managing time or the location I live.

If it is not about this, what is it about?

I'm all confused by this arguement. Maybe it's just my ignorance - but how does one hour destroy the natural 'cycle of things'? For eg. if the cows are used to being milked at 11am... why not just milk them at 10? I doubt they keep time.

Dairy cows aren't usually mustered up to come to the dairy in the mornings and afternoon, they are trained to be there at those times for their feed at which time they are milked. So when the southern states change to Daylight Saving Time and the milk processer is across the border or has to change their schedule to meet further commitments the milk tanker comes an hour earlier in the morning, but the cows don't know that and can't be trained to be an hour earlier on a certain day. And it goes further than that, sometimes if you have to muster the cows to hurry them up, they can get tense and won't let their milk down until they settle. Simillarly, in the afternoon, the cows need to be an hour earlier, milking when it is a bit hotter.

But apart from the cows, parents face problems trying to adjust their timetable to get the kids to school an hour earlier while they are still trying to get the milking finished.

But it's not just dairy farmers. Freight companies have to change timetables to meet fruit and veg markets in the south, so it means that growers have to get their days work done in an hour less time to meet the freight to catch the markets, cos some city people may not know that milk comes from cows (not cartons) and fruit and veg is much preferably harvested, precooled and transported in the same day to be at the markets overnight and in the grocer's the next morning, fresh.

There are similar implications for many other industries and occupations.

 

[doctorj]

It's good to know there is some reason. A thought occurs though - if the milk tankers come earlier when it's DST in the southern states, wouldn't it be handier if there were also DST in your area so you can still get kids off to school?

 

[Whiskers]

It's good to know there is some reason. A thought occurs though - if the milk tankers come earlier when it's DST in the southern states, wouldn't it be handier if there were also DST in your area so you can still get kids off to school?

No, because if we had DST we would also have the additional problem of school starting an hour earlier and trying to get the kids organised while trying to finish milking like in the DST states. Whereas in Qld the cows and school are still in sync, it's just the freight and business times takes an hour out of our day.

By the way, I am not in the dairy industry myself anymore, but I still have some exposure to the fruit and veg industry.

When I fully convert to investing and or trading, I suppose it won't bother me much either, but I think I would still support those whom it did affect.

PS. Have I won the debate yet?

 

[sails]

I believe this petition is requesting a trial for South East Queensland ONLY. So this shouldn't affect the cows or farmers - and might even spare the curtains

There are clearly inconveniences on both sides of the DLS fence...

Here is an excerpt from a word document included with the email I received (whole document file size is too large to upload to ASF) with more info on the statistics and reasoning behind the petition for a trial period.

Please note the last paragraph is clear in not supporting DLS beyond the South East region.

SUMMARY

South-eastern Queensland is ideally positioned to benefit from daylight saving.

Its solar time and moderate climate are suited to accommodate an hour of daylight saving. There will still be enough light for early morning with twilight starting between 5:15am and 6:15am and evening twilight will still end relatively early between 7:15pm and 8:15pm.

Two time zones work well in many other regions of the world. In Queensland there is a natural dividing line through a sparsely populated region northwest of Gympie and Toowoomba.

SEQ will benefit by a decrease in energy consumption.

The road safety benefits are significant for SEQ and can not be ignored any longer.

The concerns expressed about increased air-conditioner use, UV exposure, skin cancer rates and afternoon heat for children returning from school are not supported by the data.

Daylight saving outside of the SEQ region is inappropriate as the rest of Queensland already has a mild to moderate daylight saving effect year round. There is not enough surplus light in the morning that can be shifted to the evening. The road safety and energy benefits will therefore be minimal.

But hey, I'm not the organiser, and only posted the info I received by email together with the petition link should anyone else like to register their vote!

http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/EPetitions_qld/CurrentEPetition.aspx?

LOL, don't shoot the messenger :couch

 

[doctorj]

PS. Have I won the debate yet?

Not really. I agree its likely that it will inconvenience a small number of people and there will be some mighty confused cows around while they get used to the change over. Hopefully a small number of people's lack of flexibility won't prevent the majority from enjoying daylight saving in Qld.

The WA cows seem to be surviving.