Daylight Saving for South East Queensland Referendum Act 2010
Encyclopedia
The Daylight Saving for South East Queensland Referendum Bill 2010 was tabled in Queensland Parliament on 14 April 2010, by Queensland
, Independent Member Peter Wellington
. Wellington has called for a referendum
to be held at the next State election on introduction of daylight saving time
for South East Queensland
. The Bill proposes a split-time zone
for the state of Queensland and has suggested that the local government areas of Brisbane
, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich
, Logan, Scenic Rim, Redland and Moreton Bay be included in the daylight saving time zone, while the rest of the state remains on standard time
.
political party
approached Wellington to introduce a private member's Bill. As Wellington agreed with the principles of the DS4SEQ proposal, specifically the dual time zone arrangement, he drafted the Daylight Saving for South East Queensland Referendum Bill 2010.
, John-Paul Langbroek
, immediately announced that he would not support the bill, saying "We will not be supporting a referendum on daylight saving" and "I don't want to make an interstate problem an intrastate problem".
The Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh
, announced a community consultation process, which resulted in over 74,000 respondents participating, 64 percent of whom voted in favour of a trial of daylight saving and 63% were also in favour of holding a referendum. On 7 June 2010, and after reviewing the favourable consultation results, Bligh announced that her Government would not support the Bill, because regional Queenslanders were overwhelmingly opposed to daylight saving. DS4SEQ called for Bligh and her government to reconsider their position.
The Bill was defeated in Queensland Parliament on 15 June 2011.
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Independent Member Peter Wellington
Peter Wellington
Peter Wellington is an Independent member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, for the Electoral district of Nicklin. Wellington, along with fellow independent Liz Cunningham, briefly held the balance in power following the 1998 state election...
. Wellington has called for a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
to be held at the next State election on introduction of daylight saving time
Daylight saving time
Daylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...
for South East Queensland
South East Queensland
South East Queensland is a region of the state of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population...
. The Bill proposes a split-time zone
Time zone
A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
for the state of Queensland and has suggested that the local government areas of Brisbane
City of Brisbane
The City of Brisbane is the Local Government Area that has jurisdiction over the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...
, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich
City of Ipswich
The City of Ipswich is a Local Government Area in South East Queensland, covering an area of along the coast about southwest of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. The City of Ipswich has a population of 162,380 .-History:...
, Logan, Scenic Rim, Redland and Moreton Bay be included in the daylight saving time zone, while the rest of the state remains on standard time
Standard time
Standard time is the result of synchronizing clocks in different geographical locations within a time zone to the same time rather than using the local meridian as in local mean time or solar time. Historically, this helped in the process of weather forecasting and train travel. The concept...
.
Drafting
In early 2010, the Daylight Saving for South East Queensland (DS4SEQ)Daylight Saving for South East Queensland
Daylight Saving for South East Queensland is a political party in Queensland, Australia. It is a single-issue party, run by volunteers, which advocates the implementation of a dual-time zone arrangement for Daylight Saving in South East Queensland while the remainder of the state maintains...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
approached Wellington to introduce a private member's Bill. As Wellington agreed with the principles of the DS4SEQ proposal, specifically the dual time zone arrangement, he drafted the Daylight Saving for South East Queensland Referendum Bill 2010.
Response
In response to this Bill, Leader of the Opposition (Queensland)Leader of the Opposition (Queensland)
This is a list of Leaders of the Opposition in Queensland. Prior to 1898, opposition to the government of the day was less organised. Thus the Queensland Parliamentary Record does not designate Leaders of the Opposition before then....
, John-Paul Langbroek
John-Paul Langbroek
John-Paul Honoré Langbroek is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly representing the Liberal Party and its successor, the centre-right Liberal National Party, in the seat of Surfers Paradise since 2004...
, immediately announced that he would not support the bill, saying "We will not be supporting a referendum on daylight saving" and "I don't want to make an interstate problem an intrastate problem".
The Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh
Anna Bligh
Anna Maria Bligh is an Australian politician and the Premier of Queensland since 2007. The 2009 Queensland state election was the first time a female-led political party won or retained state or federal government in Australia...
, announced a community consultation process, which resulted in over 74,000 respondents participating, 64 percent of whom voted in favour of a trial of daylight saving and 63% were also in favour of holding a referendum. On 7 June 2010, and after reviewing the favourable consultation results, Bligh announced that her Government would not support the Bill, because regional Queenslanders were overwhelmingly opposed to daylight saving. DS4SEQ called for Bligh and her government to reconsider their position.
The Bill was defeated in Queensland Parliament on 15 June 2011.
Previous Daylight Saving Referendum
Queensland has had one previous referendum on daylight saving, which was held on 22 February 1992, with the question: “Are you in favour of daylight saving?" and was defeated with a 54.5% 'no' vote. The vote on this referendum was after Queensland had trialled daylight saving over a three-year period, from 1989/90 to 1991/92. The referendum result displayed a distinct trend - that public opinion on daylight saving in Queensland is geographically divided, with the ‘no’ vote strongest in the north and west regional districts, while the ‘yes’ vote was strongest in the state’s metropolitan south-east.See also
- Peter WellingtonPeter WellingtonPeter Wellington is an Independent member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, for the Electoral district of Nicklin. Wellington, along with fellow independent Liz Cunningham, briefly held the balance in power following the 1998 state election...
- Daylight Saving for South East Queensland PartyDaylight Saving for South East QueenslandDaylight Saving for South East Queensland is a political party in Queensland, Australia. It is a single-issue party, run by volunteers, which advocates the implementation of a dual-time zone arrangement for Daylight Saving in South East Queensland while the remainder of the state maintains...
- Daylight saving timeDaylight saving timeDaylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...
- Time in AustraliaTime in AustraliaAustralia uses Standard time, i.e: the same well defined time for a region. The proper names of Australia's time zones are Australian Western Standard Time , Australian Central Standard Time , and Australian Eastern Standard Time...
- Queensland daylight savings referendum, 1992
- Daylight saving time around the worldDaylight saving time around the worldDaylight saving time around the world, showing usage and a short history by location in alphabetic order, grouped by continent. Most areas of North America and Europe observe daylight saving time , while most areas of Africa and Asia do not...