DAYLIGHT SAVING EXTENSION

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development) (11:57): I seek leave to make another ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. P. CAICA: The government has considered community feedback from extensive consultations undertaken in regard to the trial extension of daylight saving in South Australia. South Australia has now trialled two summer periods of extended daylight saving, the first being the extra week in April 2008 and the other the three-week period in October of the same year. Prior to the trial extension in 2007 and, following the extensions in April and October 2008, SafeWork SA undertook a wide public consultation to ascertain the range of views held across the state.

The consultation included opportunities for the public to provide feedback to a designated page on the SafeWork SA website; engagement of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet State Strategic Plan Community Network for the conduct of an online survey; and consideration of correspondence received since the first part of the trial in April 2008. Mindful of the considerable community interest in this issue, the government lengthened the period of public consultation by three weeks after the October trial extension, concluding it on 12 December 2008.

To add further depth to the consultation, SafeWork SA also commissioned an independent, random and statistically valid telephone survey that was undertaken by a private research company (Harrison Research) across the state in early December 2008. Analysis of the feedback indicated that, on balance, there is broad support amongst South Australians for the ongoing extension of daylight saving on the basis of social, community and work/life considerations. Many South Australians indicated that they valued the extra daylight hours for participating in sporting and recreational pursuits and for spending more time with their family.

In addition, businesses indicated that extending daylight saving will reduce cost and confusion by maintaining a consistent time differential between New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT for the entire year. If the extension was not continued, the tourism, media and airline industries in particular would be disadvantaged due to the variations in time differences during October and early April each year.

It is the government's intention to now put in place the appropriate legislative arrangements to confirm that daylight saving will commence on the first Sunday in October each year and run until the first Sunday in April the following year. In doing so, the government acknowledges the concerns expressed by some individuals and groups, particularly those in some of our regional areas, about the local impacts of the daylight saving extension. SafeWork SA will continue liaising with regional communities across the state to assist in the development of practical strategies that will help them to mitigate some of the impacts of extended daylight saving.