Queensland wake up, you are behind Adelaide – things need to change

I’m going to fire up with the angry mob concerned about faded curtains and cows but isn’t it time we got with the times?

Time for Queensland to get with the times.

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Well, the people of Queensland have spoken. By electing a Liberal government they are clearly saying: “It’s time for daylight saving. We’re sick of being ‘Steven Miles’ behind other states, it’s time we accepted we’re the city of the future. Our property values have moved forward, our cafes have moved forward – isn’t it time our clocks did too?”

I’m definitely putting words in people’s mouths here and I’m going to fire up the angry mob concerned about faded curtains and cows, but isn’t it time we got with the times?

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I’ve lived in Sydney, Melbourne and France and you know what they’ve all got in common? They’ve all hosted the Olympics and also have daylight saving. So it’s the natural progression for Brisbane.

Let’s start with the reasons in favour. First, Zoom. Anyone in business knows that navigating Zoom calls interstate is a nightmare. “Wait – is that 10am your time or our time?”

Add Adelaide into the mix and all of a sudden Brisbane is half an hour behind Adelaide. It’s an executive assistant’s nightmare.

Then there’s the benefit of beach time. I can hear the chorus now yelling at me: “We’ve got plenty of beach time in the morning – we don’t need more!”

Sure, that might suit you, but what about the nine-to-fivers? By the time they get home and peel of their sweat-sodden work attire, don their thongs and hit the surf it’s dusk, and every Queenslander knows that’s Shark O’clock. Are you saying our workforce deserves to be eaten? Selfish, much?

Nikki Osborne is giving Queensland some harsh truths.

When we lived in Melbourne and had little ones, my husband would finish work and we’d have daylight hours together every evening on the beach.

But let’s spare a thought for our border residents. Imagine dropping your kids to school in a different timezone to the hours where you work. I wonder how many kids in Kingscliff, NSW get left at school an extra hour because their parents read the time wrong. It’s silly.

In the interest of taking a balanced view, it’s time I presented the “against” argument. Until recently, I couldn’t see any reason to be anti-daylight saving.

But now my son has taken to early morning swim school, I get it. Imagine you’re a farmer or a shift worker who has to start at 5am? If we set the clocks forward an hour, they’re effectively getting up at 3am to get to work, while it’s been light and hot up until 8pm the night before. That does not a good sleep maketh.

Enjoying more time at the beach is one big plus.

There would be some very sleep-deprived farmers and they might go on strike, and if there’s no beef then you know what that means: no pies. And if there are no pies then there are no tradies, and then there are no houses! It’s basically Armageddon.

So, who do we prioritise? Queensland is a bloody big place, with substantial distances between major centres. Would it not make sense that South East Queensland joins daylight saving time, and then we allocate a time border in the long stretches that aren’t a daily commute for thousands of people?

Wouldn’t that allow the farmers to farm and the major centres to catch up with the rest of the eastern seaboard? We had no dramas dividing up zones during covid, so why would this be so hard?

Or should we all join daylight saving? Or do you want Queensland office workers to be eaten by sharks?

Or are Queenslanders actually okay with being behind Adelaide?

Originally published as Queensland wake up, you are behind Adelaide – things need to change