May 2010 . . . ?What?? you say!
. . . . . Talk of daylight saving in Queensland is on again!!
Now, tell me this . . . . . If the referendum following the first or the second of the previous trials of Daylight Saving Time (DST) in Queensland had been decided in favour of DST, would we be asked to put it to the vote again?
My guess is “NO.” Opponents of DST would be firmly told, “You lost! That’s it!! Get used to it!”
Well do have your say on this!! – Mayor Sutherland asks for feedback on this issue, so let’s ensure that rural perspective is included – something beyond “the cows don’t know what time it is . . .”
Honestly folks . . . . Do these people really just say these things, or, does the mainstream media only report these out-of-context excerpts of points made by opponents of DST?
It’s true . . . sort of! Cows don’t know to come in to be milked an hour earlier just because the farmer winds his clock back an hour!! Cows run on Nature’s time-clock . . . . The real problem is that the tankers and milk processing factories run on the time zone that we are officially observing. If your farm has an early tanker pick-up time, you could well be chasing the cows in the dark to get them in to be milked – so that they are milked and the milk chilled for the tanker’s run!! Don’t presume that the Government officials you are talking to know of these types of issues. Fully explain your issues!
Skincancer – That’s another point that gets pooh-poohed by the mainstream media. From the Queensland Cancer Council ad campaigns we know that the maximum danger period for skin cancer damage is between 10am and 3pm during our sunny Queensland summer. This danger period does not conveniently stay at those same time-slots with the switch to DST – It would instead fall between 11am and 4pm.
What is happening between 3pm and 4pm? Our children are walking home from school – thereby being exposed to the damaging UV rays each school day!
We are told that studies have shown that there has been no increase in the incidence of skin cancer following the introduction of DST. Well Queensland is closer to the Equator than NSW, Vic and SA, so is therefore at more risk of skin cancer. Given that skin cancer takes some time to manifest itself, any studies done regarding the effects of DST on the incidence of skin cancer could not have taken our State’s climate into consideration anyway. Come on! Two totally separate 6 month DST trails . . . . How could that generate the required data??
Since the 1970’s when Daylight Saving Time was first introduced, we have seen significant deregulation in the working hours. There is now so much variation in what “everybody else” is doing! Shops have more flexible trading hours – no longer locked into the 9 to 5 timeslot. Many businesses have flexible work times and this enables those so inclined to start and finish their workday earlier.
With businesses expanding to Global markets these days, there are always going to be different time zones . . . It is a geographical fact of life on our planet!!
Western Australia and also Central Australia are always going to be in different time zones as are the Eastern States of Australia – and adjusting our clocks backwards and forward an hour at different times of the year will not change that!!
Honestly folks . . . . Do these people really just say these things, or, does the mainstream media only report these out-of-context excerpts of points made by opponents of DST?
It’s true . . . sort of! Cows don’t know to come in to be milked an hour earlier just because the farmer winds his clock back an hour!! Cows run on Nature’s time-clock . . . . The real problem is that the tankers and milk processing factories run on the time zone that we are officially observing. If your farm has an early tanker pick-up time, you could well be chasing the cows in the dark to get them in to be milked – so that they are milked and the milk chilled for the tanker’s run!! Don’t presume that the Government officials you are talking to know of these types of issues. Fully explain your issues!
Skincancer – That’s another point that gets pooh-poohed by the mainstream media. From the Queensland Cancer Council ad campaigns we know that the maximum danger period for skin cancer damage is between 10am and 3pm during our sunny Queensland summer. This danger period does not conveniently stay at those same time-slots with the switch to DST – It would instead fall between 11am and 4pm.
What is happening between 3pm and 4pm? Our children are walking home from school – thereby being exposed to the damaging UV rays each school day!
We are told that studies have shown that there has been no increase in the incidence of skin cancer following the introduction of DST. Well Queensland is closer to the Equator than NSW, Vic and SA, so is therefore at more risk of skin cancer. Given that skin cancer takes some time to manifest itself, any studies done regarding the effects of DST on the incidence of skin cancer could not have taken our State’s climate into consideration anyway. Come on! Two totally separate 6 month DST trails . . . . How could that generate the required data??
Since the 1970’s when Daylight Saving Time was first introduced, we have seen significant deregulation in the working hours. There is now so much variation in what “everybody else” is doing! Shops have more flexible trading hours – no longer locked into the 9 to 5 timeslot. Many businesses have flexible work times and this enables those so inclined to start and finish their workday earlier.
With businesses expanding to Global markets these days, there are always going to be different time zones . . . It is a geographical fact of life on our planet!!
Western Australia and also Central Australia are always going to be in different time zones as are the Eastern States of Australia – and adjusting our clocks backwards and forward an hour at different times of the year will not change that!!
