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It’s the weekend when two out of three Australians turn the clocks back an hour and we all become slightly less confused about what time it is in other parts of the country. Five state and territory time zones will become three. Remarkably, when we include dependencies such as Norfolk and Christmas Islands, Australia has ten time zones during daylight saving time (11 if you count the unofficial local time zone around Eucla, WA). Somehow all of China manages with just one official time zone.
And as long as we’ve had daylight saving, we’ve had debate about its pros and cons. There’s strong opposition in some quarters, but a new national survey has found surprisingly strong support – 80% – across the nation. As Thomas Sigler writes, even in Queensland and Western Australia, which don’t change their times with the seasons, daylight saving has majority support.
The research also reveals the various differences between supporters and opponents. Support is clearly stronger in the south of the country where the difference in daytime hours is greater between summer and winter. Sigler also explores various proposals for improving daylight saving and what their impacts might be.
So when exactly do we change the clocks this weekend? Daylight saving always ends on the first Sunday of April, so those on daylight saving time effectively extend their weekend by an hour when the time shifts back from 3am to 2am this Sunday.
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John Watson
Cities Editor and Deputy Energy + Environment Editor
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Thomas Sigler, The University of Queensland
Even in states that don’t have daylight saving, most people favour it. However, support is strongest in the country’s south, where the difference between summer and winter daylight hours is greater.
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