Daylight saving

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32860, 8 March 1972, Page 7

Daylight saving

So that was daylightsaving, Australian style. With the end of the trial period, the clocks are back to where they were. But the argument still goes on. One observant mother remarked that over the years, she’d noticed that Sydney’s fierce summer storms usually started about 3 p.m., which is the time most schools get out. But with 3 p.m. turned into 4 pan. the children were home and dry before the deluge began. But a 90-year-old, who says she has seen many changes come and go, likes daylight saving least of all. Against it, she listed: “It makes our day too long. We become so tired. Even the lesser creatures disapprove of it. Cows refuse to give their milk. Birds ignore it, and go to roost after sunset, as is customary. Possums decline to wake up. Fish won’t bite. Oysters will not open.” “Please,” she says, “let us have our old time back for good.” It seems, though, that she may not get it. Well, not in New South Wales, where an unofficial poll showed a large majority in favour of daylight saving although strong anti-clock-change lobbying was still being waged by rural interests. A Queensland poll was largely against daylight saving. At the time of writing, no official decision has been made in New South Wales, but for the winter at least it is back to wet school children and easyopening oysters.