Leaders say more than half of the state ready for daylight saving trial

UPDATE: The Acting Premier has declared daylight saving ‘fantastic’, after council leaders representing more than half of Queensland’s 4.7 million residents put up their hand for a new daylight saving trial.

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ACTING Premier Jackie Trad has declared daylight saving ‘fantastic’, after council leaders representing more than half of Queensland’s 4.7 million residents put up their hand for a new daylight saving trial.

The South Brisbane-based MP said she loved daylight saving but the issue was bigger than whether there was an extra “hour of sunlight in summer.”

“It is a question of whether our state is divided or not,” Ms Trad said.

“It’s quite clear that people in the southeast Queensland corner love daylight savings (sic). But it’s also abundantly clear that regional Queenslanders have a different view. So in the interests of governing for all Queenslanders, the Palaszczuk Government has made a decision that we won’t do a trial this term.”

Ms Trad said there was “no intention of pursuing one in future, either, telling The Courier-Mail the State Government were “putting the unity of the state ahead of any trial of daylight savings (sic).”

Ms Trad’s comments come despite the Mayors of the Gold Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Moreton Bay and Mackay all putting forward their support for another trial of the initiative 25 years after the last one finished.

Combined with Brisbane and Townsville deputy mayors, who pushed the move yesterday, the community leaders represent about 3 million voters, or 64 per cent of Queensland residents, according to 2015 Bureau of Statistics data.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson: “It’s been 25 years since the last time we knocked on the door, so there’s a whole new generation of people voting now.” Picture: Jack Tran

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson, who has 20 years of business experience, said not having daylight saving was “a bit of an embuggerance in terms of business” when it came to dealing with southern-state counterparts.

“It’s been 25 years since the last time we knocked on the door, so there’s a whole new generation of people voting now,” he said. “It’s probably time to give them a go.”

In a 1992 referendum, Queenslanders voted against the move following a three-year trial in which clocks were wound forward for six months from October each year.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland senior policy adviser Catherine Pham, who yesterday backed a trial, said daylight saving would help businesses dealing with interstate clients.

A 2010 CCIQ survey found three in five businesses supported daylight saving as long as it was statewide. But Ms Pham said most of those were in the southeast corner.

“Either we implement it comprehensively across the state, or not at all,” she said.

However, the political will was lacking yesterday after Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne emphatically ruled out trialling the initiative before the next election, expected later this year. “It’s not a priority for us,” Mr Byrne said. “It’s not on our agenda.”

Neither the LNP nor One Nation wanted to touch the issue, as it is a political hot potato that can divide voters broadly across northern and southern lines. Toowoomba, Cairns, Charters Towers and Sunshine Coast mayors also opposed the move.