So we are now two weeks in from when the eastern and southern states adopted Daylight Saving for another year, and the frustrations, delays and inefficiencies have also made their way back into the lives of the majority of South East Queenslanders.
South East Queensland businesses that have regular dealings with clients and counterparts in other states, particularly New South Wales and Victoria, are greatly affected. A number of these businesses are forced to operate on extended times, in order to ensure customer services continue to be provided locally, along with maintaining client expectations and business relationships throughout the whole Australian east coast. Business travellers are inconvenienced by the necessity to get up at 3am, to ensure that they make the ‘red-eye’ flight and are on time for their 9am meeting in Sydney or Melbourne; or if not, they are forced to fly down the night before, incurring more expense. Stock order deadlines are brought forward an hour when ordering from Sydney or Melbourne, to ensure warehouse requirements are maintained and client orders can be met. A number of other inefficiencies also occur, due to South East Queensland’s non-alignment, and overall it is a frustrating time for employees of businesses affected, and of course, adds an unnecessary burden to these organisations.
Television and radio programming is also tested during this time. In order for programs to air at a station’s desired timeslot, anything that is recorded ‘live’ in Sydney and Melbourne, is suddenly aired into the South East Queensland region, on an hour’s delay. In the past, these delays have presented problems for viewers wishing to cast their votes during reality T.V. programs. Other programs that are directly impacted by the time difference anomaly, include major sporting events, along with those that are ‘live and interactive’; for example, the Q & A program on ABC TV, along with talkback radio and various phone-in competitions.
The number of people directly impacted by this one-hour difference is growing each year. This is added to the ever-increasing amount of individuals who would simply like to have Daylight Saving within the South East Queensland region, in order to enjoy the social benefits and increased lifestyle opportunities that it would provide to them.
We know that the results of the 1992 Referendum emphasised that those who favour Daylight Saving mainly reside in the South East region of Queensland, and this support has been consistently re-affirmed in opinion polls ever since. There is also no doubt that the majority of people in Queensland would like the opportunity to experience Daylight Saving; and anyone who disagrees with this, is in denial. The majority support for Daylight Saving was highlighted by the 2007 Queensland Government commissioned Nielsen research, and numerous opinion polls in recent years have also confirmed this trend.
Given this majority support, Daylight Saving could possibly be introduced state-wide. However, to ensure that the majority of all of Queensland’s residents are satisfied, a dual time zone is the only solution that will achieve this. Whilst we agree, some of the abovementioned anomalies would exist with a dual time zone within the state, there is no doubt the impact upon individuals and businesses would be significantly reduced. That is why a dual time zone must be considered the most favourable option to resolve the issue of Daylight Saving within Queensland.
Remember – ‘It’s About Time!’
Jason Furze
Party Leader