Push against daylight saving

THE Katter’s Australian Party has launched a parliamentary petition urging North and Central Queenslanders to say no to daylight saving.

The petition calls for the Queensland parliament to formally recognise “the unacceptably negative and unfair impact any introduction of Daylight Saving Time (DST) would have on the people of North, Central and Western Queensland”.

KAP Leader Robbie Katter (pictured) said daylight saving was a ‘lightning rod’ issue because it was symbolic of ongoing political tensions between the southeast corner and the state’s more rural and regional areas, largely in the North. He said liveability in the North and North West would be eroded by daylight saving due to the region’s oppressive heat and its impacts on day-to-day life. “We already face so much adversity in the regions – I appreciate the sentiments of leisure and convenience that daylight saving would provide to Brisbane, but this means so much more to us than that,” he said. “Brisbane has never taken the North’s push for a separate state seriously but now they are dividing us by stealth with this annual campaign to forget the rest of the state and do what Brisbane wants when it comes to daylight saving.” Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto said a recent University of Queensland study found there was significant support for daylight saving across the state.

“To me this once again shows the cultural and geographical divide between Brisbane and the rest of the state,” he said.

The petition is available on the Queensland parliament website.