Yes, yes, we all love lingering summer evenings. But oh what a price is paid by night owls like me writes Doug Hendrie. | OPINION daylightsaving
About the only thing I like about changing the clocks for daylight saving is that heavy feeling of jet lag when my alarm goes off. For just a minute, it feels as if I’ve gone somewhere exciting like overseas and done something new.
That’s why I perked up when I read that the US may be making daylight saving time permanent through the lovingly titled Sunshine Protection Act. Backer Marco Rubio, a Republican, noted that while it was not the biggest issue facing America , it was one that had a lot of agreement. Should we follow suit? Anything would be better than the status quo. As it stands, we’re a nation divided: the NT, Queensland and WA scorn daylight saving. They understandably find it far better to rise early and get things done before the sun scorches their eyeballs. By contrast, our cooler southern states have all opted for daylight saving over summer.
So what to do? Is there a solution that will please everyone? I doubt it. But there’s a case for picking one timezone – daylight saving or standard – and making it permanent across Australia. Less confusion. An end to changing clocks, and the spike in angst, heart attacks and car crashes that come every year when we just all decide to change what time it is.