Bills

Standard Time (Alteration of Standard Time) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:07): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Standard Time Act 2009. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:08): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I will be brief in my explanation at this point in time because the bill is very straightforward, but if it is passed by this council it will achieve three things. First, it brings back, for serious and democratic consideration, issues around our current time zone and what should be happening to our time zone into the future. It does not deny the people of South Australia, or indeed the parliament, their democratic right to debate this issue, unlike the Labor cabinet minister the Hon. Martin Hamilton-Smith, who was so determined to get through a shift to Eastern Standard Time that when he found the public overwhelmingly did not agree with or support the proposal he put up, he took his bat and ball and went home and did not allow any further debate on the issue. That is not democracy, but this bill now being tabled does deliver that democracy.

Secondly, at least 80 per cent of the people who went on the YourSAy website to express their viewpoints were opposed to going to Eastern Standard Time, which is a clear absolute majority. I did put out a poll as well, and later on in this debate I will declare to the council what that poll revealed. Suffice to say, in generalisation of the poll, because I want to put some comments on the record at another time, the absolute majority of people did support this bill; that is, they want to go back to the true meridian which is at a point between Port Lincoln and Elliston. That is where we were originally until there was a change to move us half an hour towards Eastern Standard Time. There would be some very clear advantages in doing that. The first and a very important one is that, again unlike Martin Hamilton Smith who was prepared to—

The Hon. S.G. Wade: The Labor cabinet minister.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: The Labor cabinet minister, the Hon. Martin Hamilton-Smith, who on behalf of his Labor government was prepared to divide the South Australian community and was so flippant about it when he said, 'If the West Coast people, Eyre Peninsula people don't like what we are doing, they can work on another time zone.' How disgraceful was that when those people are a key part of the state of South Australia.

It would be an absolute benefit to those people if we were to go to our true meridian. For those people who do not like extended daylight saving—and I declare I for one do not like extended daylight saving—this would be a very good compromise. Obviously by going to our true meridian it would offset some of the impacts of that ridiculous situation, such as when I am driving a tractor along the Victor Harbor Road with two bales of hay as I do at quarter past 7 in the morning in April with all my lights and flashing lights on because it is pitch black at Mount Compass. This would be a good compromise for that as well.

Also, I put on notice to the government that I will be calling for the document that the Labor cabinet minister (Hon. Martin Hamilton-Smith) says he had that showed how much money was allegedly going to be made by going to Eastern Standard Time. I want to see that document in this debate because it sounds like a dodgy document. It is about as dodgy as the email that the Labor cabinet minister (Hon. Martin Hamilton-Smith) produced on one occasion to do with the former premier Hon. Mike Rann. Let's see this dodgy, fake and phoney document and let us have a chance in the parliament to pull it apart and look at it properly, and let the media report on it.

I believe that one thing that does give us an advantage is to show to our growth markets such as Asia, Japan and South Korea that we are so committed to grow the South Australian economy with those good people in those regions that we are prepared to shift our time zone closer to them to assist them in doing business with South Australia. It is time for a debate. It is not time to pick up the bat and ball and run because it does not suit the government. They are the reasons for introducing this bill and I look forward to contributions from honourable members in this chamber. I commend the bill to the house

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. T.J. Stephens.