Former US president Benjamin Franklin and London builder William Willet are generally credited with the daylight savings idea.
History of Daylight Savings in Australia
In Australia, the federal government used its executive powers to impose daylight savings time on all states and territories during World Wars I and II. Since then, some states have adopted daylight savings, while others have not. As a result Australia, which usually has three time zones, can have up to five when DST is in place.
The late 1960s marked the beginning of modern daylight savings in Australia. The Tasmanian government reintroduced DST as a method of saving power during drought and has kept it ever since. The other states and territories, minus Western Australia and the Northern Territory, trialled daylight savings in 1971. Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia formally adopted it the following year.
Currently WA, Queensland and NT do not observe daylight savings.
Daylight Savings in Western Australia
WA has been particularly divided by the daylight savings issue since the then-Labor government introduced a three-year trial, after which a referendum on whether it should be permanently introduced was to be held. This referendum took place on May 16, 2009, and 54.57% voted against it, effectively killing the concept in WA for at least 20 years.
In the lead-up to the referendum, both sides ran high-profile campaigns. The “yes” corner, headed by former Liberal MP Matt Birney boasted a host of sporting personalities including West Coast Eagles captain Darren Glass, West Coast Fever netballer Bianca Franklin and Perth Glory captain Jamie Coyne.
The “no” corner included treasurer Troy Buswell, deputy premier Kim Hames, Nationals leader Brendon Grylls and Eagles forward Quinten Lynch.
There were also strong opinions voiced at grassroots level. On Facebook, there were nine groups for Perth people in favour of daylight savings and 10 groups for people against.
Prior to the May 16 referendum, WA had had three daylight savings referendums: March 8, 1975; April 7, 1984; and April 4, 1992. All were defeated. The issue was formally revived on November 21, 2006, when a proposed three-year daylight savings trial, to begin from December 3 that year, was passed through parliament.
While campaigners on both sides agree the issue has been laid to rest for another generation, the final count is interesting. According to the WA Electoral Commission, the "yes" vote actually won in Perth, with 434,041 votes compared to 423,761 who voted no. However, it was the overwhelming "no" vote in rural WA – where 200,545 voted against it compared to the 85,645 in favour – that defeated daylight savings.
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