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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-08 Daily Xml
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STANDARD TIME (ALTERATION OF STANDARD TIME) AMENDMENT BILL

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:27): 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 (16:28): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This is an issue that in my opinion is clearly well above party politics. It is an issue of equity and fairness for the state, and there is some interesting history, when we go back, on our time zones in South Australia.

I rise to support this very simple bill. It is the briefest bill that I have ever had drafted since I have been in this place. It is less than one page, but notwithstanding that it is very important, I believe, to a lot of South Australians. In fact, I have had people from the Adelaide metropolitan area and the country supporting the concept of this bill.

As I have said, it is a simple bill to make a simple and sensible change to our time zone back to its natural time zone, being the time zone applicable to the 135 degree meridian. The current time zone that we are working on runs through Warrnambool, Victoria. The 135 degree meridian runs between Elliston and Port Lincoln within South Australian borders. This was the time zone that South Australia had until 1899 when the business lobby convinced the government to change to the 30 minutes due to concern about missing out on cables from London. We have better technology now than cables from London and in the information age there is no need for this difference. Only Iran, Afghanistan, India and Burma are nations with time zones on the half-hour, and provincially only the Northern Territory and Canada are with us in the 30-minute differential.

This bill will bring South Australia in line with Japan and Korean time zones, respectively Australia's second and sixth biggest trading partners according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It also brings us half an hour closer to the time zone that applies across the whole of our largest national trading partner, China, where they have the one time zone. Just a quick point on China: before the communists won the civil war, China had five official time zones. Now there is one, but I am not advocating communism as a factor in this debate.

Business SA has spoken out approvingly of this situation. It sees farmers, families and communities in western China working from 10am to 7pm. It is not quite what our West Coast farmers are experiencing, but I do point out the recent story on ABC's 7.30 of a South Australian Mid North farmer who talked about his 16-hour working days and the added stress of mice infestation in his home. That is a separate issue, but if a farmer is working 16-hour days, you can imagine the frustration of being way out of kilter with your natural time position. If Business SA want to follow communist China's approach and take us 30 minutes further east, they deserve all the other comparisons that come with that.

Worth noting is that the proposal would also take 30 minutes closer to a growing economic powerhouse in Australia—that is, Western Australia, its mining industry and its growing links with our state. We have seen the state government make an announcement on it in just the last week or thereabouts in respect to mining between Western Australia and South Australia.

Support for this proposal came to my office–and I will give a sample–from Ceduna, Kimba, Port Augusta, Edithburgh, Adelaide, Pasadena, Woodcroft, McLaren Vale, Victor Harbor and Moorook. Minister Caica, in a letter to a constituent provided to my office, said in late 2008 to this proposal:

At present there does not appear to be significant support for any change to the time zone arrangements that apply in this state. However the Government will continue to monitor community sentiment in relation to time zones and daylight saving.

The best opportunity to do that is for this council to pass this bill to tell the Labor government there is sufficient community sentiment to have it investigated. In 1995 a select committee of this parliament supported a shift, and the members of this committee were the Hons Caroline Schaefer (the chair), Angus Redford, the late Ron Roberts, George Weatherill and Sandra Kanck.

The Hon. R.P. Wortley: I think Ron Roberts is still breathing.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I don't think the Hon. Ron Roberts is quite late yet.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Terry Roberts I meant to say, sir. No, Terry Roberts. I apologise profusely for that. The Hon. Terry Roberts. It is interesting to note back then that the report said in bold:

Despite persistent attempts to obtain evidence from businesses and business organisations little was received by the Committee.

The committee ultimately recommended that contact be made with the NT government to go with us for a trial of two years. I have no evidence that the NT was ever approached and, if it was, it did not eventuate into anything so far; however, I have sent a copy of my proposal to the Northern Territory Chief Minister for his consideration.

The Hon. R.P. Wortley interjecting:

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Yes, that is. I will have to apologise to him later. Just on some comment: consultation on daylight saving available on the SafeWork SA website demonstrates angst about the tail end of extended daylight saving in particular. On adjusting our time zone, we note regarding the EDS that, at the start of daylight saving, sunrise is 5.35am at Bordertown, 5.44am in Adelaide, 6.06am in Ceduna, and by the end of daylight saving is 7.23am in at Bordertown, 7.31am in Adelaide and 7.50am in Ceduna. That is sunrise. Many constituents contacted me about daylight saving and the way it extended too long at the end in particular. This proposal does not modify daylight saving but rather modifies the time zone to reduce the adverse impact of daylight saving.

On the West Coast, it is not only farmers and business people who are concerned but also parents of students. Teachers have enormous imposts on them when they are trying to manage the wellbeing of students, given the difficulties that this impact has on students in particular. As a farmer, I found it particularly interesting to see this extension of daylight saving because, up until a few weeks ago, with the extension of daylight saving, at quarter past seven in the morning on the Fleurieu Peninsula you have to have all your tractor lights on—hazard lights and full general lights—as you go along the road in the dark.

You see builders going to Victor Harbor in the dark, with all their lights on at quarter past seven in March and April. You also see commuters having to travel in the dark. This has primarily been done because the government wanted to extend daylight saving for people who had the time and the money to be able to go to the Fringe Festival. Whilst I support the Fringe Festival and its principles, there are a lot of people who do not go to the Fringe Festival but have incredible impediments placed on them as a result of extended daylight saving.

In summary, Business SA wants us to go to Victorian time permanently. It believes that we should be absolutely focused on the Eastern States but South Australia is its own state. South Australia is not part of Victoria, and let us hope that it never does become part of Victoria. We need to stand on our two feet and be proud of what we have as a state. Because we happen to have such a broad coverage, from Eight Mile Creek down below Mount Gambier, right across past Ceduna to the western border, and over the Nullabor Plain, I think we need to govern and consider the interests of all South Australians. We no longer have to have concerns about cabling back to London. We have technology in business that allows us to operate 24/7, if we desire, with any nation or any businessperson in the world.

What I am proposing in this bill is that we consider the interests of all South Australians. As I said, we would also be a lot closer to Western Australia. We would be exactly an hour behind the Eastern States and exactly an hour ahead of Western Australia and when you look up through the corridor we would have a distinct business advantage with our trading partners, especially where our growth in trading is clearly going to occur, and that is through the middle sectors of Asia.

The final point I would like to make is that I acknowledge that South Australians, by and large, particularly those who live in Adelaide, love daylight saving and, in fact, many farmers do. I am the only one in my family (which would not surprise you, Mr President) who could do without daylight saving, but my wife and three adult children love it. There are some advantages in being able to go down to the beach after you finish work and enjoy a barbecue or a salad on the beach. There are benefits—at Port Willunga and other beaches you can drive on down our way you can have a good family time—but there needs to be some compromise.

It was for business reasons allegedly, way back in 1895, when this decision was made, but try running a business, try being a parent, a student or a farmer, particularly on the West Coast of South Australia. I see this as a great compromise. We still have daylight saving, we still have all the advantages of daylight saving, but what we do not have is disadvantage for a large percentage of the South Australian community.

I look forward to contributions from my colleagues as we put this debate forward. However, as I said, in highlighting some of the areas in which the community had supported my proposal to come back to true Central Standard Time, many of them were from Adelaide, the South-East and the Mallee, as well. It is time, as we continue to succeed and grow as a state, that we actually look at a time zone that is going to be of benefit to everybody without disadvantaging any specific sector, region or district within the state of South Australia. I commend the bill to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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