Opinion: Qld must adopt daylight saving in time for 2032 Olympics

Writing for The Sunday Mail, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner reveals why Queensland is not only ready for, but needs daylight saving. VOTE IN OUR POLL

Just like Brisbane’s blossoming jacarandas, few things are more perennial in Queensland than the annual daylight saving debate.

Each year as residents in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT gear up to adjust their clocks, Queenslanders assume their time-honoured positions over whether or not we should join them.

The late former premier Wayne Goss predicted this would happen three decades ago when speaking on the rather curiously named “Summer Time Repeal Bill”.

“I have no doubt that, while the repeal of the Summer Time Act 1990 will see an end to daylight saving in Queensland, the debate on daylight saving – and the absence of it in Queensland – will continue,” he said.

How right he was.

As many Brisbane residents would know, I’ve long supported daylight saving.

The clock is ticking on when, rather than if, it will be reintroduced.

I understand the strongly held views of people who live in the west and north of the state who don’t want to wind their clocks forward an hour over the hotter months of spring and summer. Some parts of our vast state effectively have year-round daylight saving already given the hour that the sun sets.

However, as population growth in Brisbane and the rest of the southeast corner continues to significantly outpace that of the rest of the state, the ticking to reintroduce daylight saving is only getting louder.

Some might claim this is presumptuous.

But in the failed 1992 Queensland daylight saving referendum – which attracted 1.6 million votes – more than 60 per cent of people in the southeast corner voted to keep daylight saving following a trial.

Back then the South East accounted for 60 per cent of Queensland’s population.

Today, Queensland has almost 3.5 million enrolled voters, and over 70 per cent of them live in the South East.

Clearly, the numbers have shifted, and will continue to shift, in favour of daylight saving.

However I strongly believe there’s a new reason why the ongoing conversation about daylight saving is now more relevant than ever.

As a future Olympic host city, one that will follow in the footsteps of the likes of Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles, we need to start asking ourselves some important questions and one of those should be about daylight saving.

Since that historic moment in Tokyo when Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and I leapt for joy (inset) at hearing Brisbane had been confirmed as the host of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, there’s been a lot of discussion about the many opportunities that will arise.

Let’s use this as an opportunity to take a good look at ourselves and ask whether there are some simple reforms that can bring our state major economic and social benefits.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk celebrate Brisbane’s Olympic confirmation at this year’s Tokyo Games.

Sure, the Brisbane 2032 Games would be held in the months before daylight saving time but we can use this opportunity to supercharge our status as Australia’s outdoor lifestyle capital.

The two world-renowned cities that precede us – Paris and Los Angeles – both observe daylight saving and people from around the globe visit them because they’re famed for being great places to visit with unique experiences.

When global attention turns to Brisbane, and indeed the entire state, I want the world to see a modern, vibrant, clean and green place and for people watching to say to themselves “I want to go there” or “one day I want to live there”.

It’s been over three decades since daylight saving was trialled in Queensland and in that time Brisbane and the rest of the South East corner have grown incredibly.

We now have a vastly bigger and more mature outdoor lifestyle, include a fantastic restaurant and cafe culture.

Why not play to our strengths by giving people another hour of daylight to enjoy our fantastic lifestyle?

To be clear, I’m not suggesting daylight saving should be forced on Queenslanders, but rather it’s an ideal time to give them another say.

Let’s bring on another trial and then, let’s give Queenslanders a chance to decide this issue. Queensland is a different place than it was thirty years ago.

The 2032 Games are a golden opportunity to ensure Brisbane and Queensland’s future is even brighter.

Let’s not waste it.