This Saturday we are voting for something very important. Those of my peer group who are
For daylight savings only seem to have one 'argument' and it's kind of embarrassing. They say it just 'feels good' or 'I could go to the beach at 8pm, although I haven't really, but i could!' even though not having daylight saving never bothered them before the trial.
Yet, my peer group is barely affected by the changes that daylight saving brings. At the same time, they seem to be ignoring the thoughts of people who ARE actually affected, be it farmers, Northern WA residents and/or children. So it seems to me their decision to vote Yes is possibly both selfish and extremely shortsighted. But hey, its a democracy, you can vote for whatever you want, anybody can vote without thinking. However, for those who wish to put at least some thought into it, I've written a little guide. Some food for thought.
You can read the official argument for a YES vote here and you can read the official argument for the NO vote here. I urge you to do so, just so you know what you are voting for this Saturday.For Disclosure: After reading into both sides of the argument I have decided to vote No. In fact I've become very depressed that anyone would vote YES when you consider the consequences at hand. I feel Daylight saving is an extremely outdated ideal and is especially unsuitable for WA which spans an entire continent North to South. WA needs to be more progressive and not go back to the pre industrial revolution days when daylight savings was required in Europe to
save on candles (Unfortunately it
doesn't save anything in 21st century Perth).
I'd also like to outline my own rebuttal to the key arguments made by the YES campaign. The YES campaign only provides two arguments for daylight savings. Both are seriously flawed.
1. Allows families to spend more time outdoors together after work.Wrong. In fact its possibly the opposite. Just because daylight moves, It doesn't mean your work or school start and end times change.
Without Daylight savings during summer in Perth, the sun sets between
7.20pm and 7.30pm. The average child between 3 and 10 years of age require between
10 and 11 hours of sleep for a healthy lifestyle.
To get them up between 6am and 7am to either get them ready for school (or ready for day care before your work during the school holidays), you'll need to get them to bed by 8pm at the latest. Most parents I've known generally begin preparing their kids for bed at 7.30pm. Just when the sun is setting normally.
With Daylight savings however, your extra hour of daylight begins at 7.30pm. So do you stay out with your kids for an extra hour and reduce their sleep by an hour? No! They are still sent to bed at the same time, because school and work still starts at the same time! So, really, all you have accomplished with DST is sending them to bed in daylight and guess what, I know this from personal experience, KIDS HATE THAT! The more trouble you have getting them to sleep, the less time you get to yourself and spouse (if you are lucky enough to have one), which from what I'm told, is equally important to the sanity of a healthy family as 'family time'. Not to mention the health and mood benefits of a kid who has had a good nights sleep.
My kid self would hate me if I voted for daylight saving.
In a normal Perth summer, we are very fortunate to have plenty of low UV sunshine between 5pm and 7.30pm to enjoy with our families. Then on special nights, some of Perth's unique activities such as outdoor cinemas, concerts and theatre which we like to picnic and bbq at can start earlier on weeknights and have the improved romantic atmosphere of a balmy Perth night when it gets dark at the perfect time of 7.30-8pm.
(Plus, the extra daylight in the morning actually helps stimulate the
Circadian rhythm meaning it's easier for all of us to wake up and be less grumpy, especially kids. Haha, just think about it for a minute, It's true isn't it!)
2. Going to DST saves confusion when doing business with the Eastern States.Since I spend a lot of time sourcing my film equipment from, and submitting applications to, places ouside of WA I can partly appreciate the idea of this argument. However, from my own experience, the effects of daylight saving actually make it harder to do business with the Eastern States, let alone the rest of the world. See why below:
Why this is wrong part A:The proposed Daylight Savings Time (DST) regime which you are voting for on Saturday is either too long or too short. It's completely flawed. Our March mornings are already too dark under DST (Sunrises not till 7.20am!), and yet we are STILL out of sync with
NSW / VIC / ACT / TAS.
Timezone differences between Western Australia and NSW / VIC / ACT / TAS in any given year if the May 16th referendum is passed:
- January 1st - Last Sunday in March: 2 hours
- Last Sunday in March - First Sundday in April: 3 hours
- First Sunday in April - first Sunday in October: 2 hours
- First Sunday in October - last Sunday in October: 3 hours
- Last Sunday in October - December 31st: 2 hours
So in any given year under the proposed DST regime, there will be 5 different periods of time zone difference. Without DST there is only 3.
Between NT and QLD (Who are the only other state/territory who share similar higher latitudes to us) under the proposed DST periods, there will be 3 as well, while without Daylight savings there is NONE!
How does the proposed WA DST make doing business easier?Answer: It doesn't. Eastern States businesses unfortunately tend to assume that WA changes to Daylight savings at the same time, always causing problems in the transition periods.
Why this is wrong part B:As the official argument against the referendum
intelligently points out, NSW / VIC are now (and even less so in the future) not our most important business partners. Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong. Kuala Lumpur and Beijing all share the same timezone with some very special people. US! Yay, this gives the WA economy a strategic advantage over NSW / VIC as an increasingly larger percent of our business is done with Asia. Globalisation is a reality we must face and if Australia is to become a stronger economy, Asia is the key. All of us in WA benefit from a stronger economy. If we go to DST, we are losing part of that unique advantage.
Also, as all of you should know quite well, phone support centers for most companies are now spread out around the world and they '
Follow the Sun'. I could go on even more about the effect on farmers and how legacy software (Even modern software like this blog!) is largely ignorant of DST in Western Australia and this
impacts small businesses the most but surely you get the idea now!
You can dispute my points in the comments but please, vote intelligently and just remember, (to my peers especially)
nobody ever complained that our Summer nights were too short before the DST trial came in. Think about it, you still had a great time, because Perth summers are already the best in the world! You can vote NO and still have great Summers for years to come. It's a win-win situation. Although today you may live in Perth and have free time to idle away in the evenings, one day in the future you may have a job on the mines, or have a young family and you,
like the last generation has finally realised, may come to regret your narrow view today.
"Location Aware" is the new cool kid on the block, and he/she is actually really cool. A lot of devices have gps built into them these days opening up a whole world of possibilities so endless It blows the minds of the broad minded.
