Brisbane Lord Mayor calls for daylight saving trail in Queensland

The mayors of Queensland’s biggest cities have renewed debate on whether the state should turn the clocks forward each spring.

People enjoy the first day of daylight savings on Brighton Beach in Melbourne. Picture: David Crosling

Brisbane’s Lord Mayor has refreshed calls for Queensland to trial daylight saving after southern states turned their clocks forward an hour.

The practice began for NSW, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia at 2am on Sunday and will gain the states an extra hour of sunlight during spring and summer.

Hours later, Lord Mayor of Brisbane Adrian Schrinner said Queenslanders should be given the option to trial the concept 30 years after it last did so.

Queensland does not use daylight saving. Picture: Brisbane Tourism

“Thirty years ago [was] the last time that Queensland has had the opportunity to experience daylight saving,” he said.

“A large percentage of the Queensland population has not had the opportunity either to experience it in person to have a trial, or most importantly to have a say on whether they like it or not.”

Mr Schrinner went on to say the sunshine state could benefit from giving daylight saving “a try”.

“This morning, the rest of the eastern seaboard of Australia switched their clocks over to daylight saving time, and sadly, once again, Queensland has missed out on this opportunity,” he said.

“All I’m asking is if people go give it a try, and then let people have their say.”

However, further north, Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said the issue was a complex one due to the state’s sheer size.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has renewed calls for daylight saving in Queensland. Picture Lachie Millard

“We don’t need to extend the time by an extra hour to get time during summer. It happens for us naturally,” she said.

“Queensland is a big state and once you get past the Tropic of Capricorn it’s a little different for us here in the north. In summertime, we have sunsets that occur 50 minutes after they occur in Brisbane.”

Queensland last trialled daylight saving in the early 1990s and residents voted against keeping it permanently in 1992.