Saving daylight

Third, Australia should reconsider its time zones. Current time zones are based on solar time - the idea that noon is when the sun is overhead. In the 19th century, before artificial lighting was widely available, this made reasonable sense. People rose with the dawn and went to bed after dusk, with most work being done in the hours of daylight.

However, long ago, Europe recognised that this was no longer sensible, and that noon does not mark the middle of the day in 20th or 21st century life. Indeed, most people probably get up at about 6am and go to bed at about 10.30 or 11pm, so that the middle of the day is actually nearer to 2pm.

Instead of clinging to the anachronistic idea of the sun being overhead at midday, it would make more sense to advance time by an hour or so across Australia, as a part of standard time.

Australia also has a half-hour time change, which is also quite awkward in this day and age of frequent interstate travel, especially since most of South Australia and the Northern Territory is an hour different by the sun from the east coast of the country. Each one hour of solar time represents a 15 degree change in longitude. There is a 13 degree difference between Adelaide and Sydney, so Adelaide should be one hour different from Sydney.

My proposal on time zones is that the time should be advanced one hour for the eastern time zone, one half hour for the central time zone and one hour for the western time zone. This would put an end to the half hour time difference, and would also move the middle of the daylight period to about 1pm for much of populated Australia.

What would be the implications of this?

Currently in Sydney, the sun rises at about 7.01am from June 22 until July 8 (the latest sunrise). Under my proposal, this would now be at about 8.01am, with it becoming light at about 7.30am. At that time, the sun would set at about 5.55pm, instead of the current 4.55pm.

In mid summer, the sun currently rises at 4.37am from December 1 until December 10. This would become 5.37am on standard time, or 6.37am on DST. The latest sunset is about 7.10pm from January 1 until January 14, and would be at 8.10pm standard time or 9.10pm DST.

These times are all eminently reasonable for the beginning and ending of daylight on days in the winter and summer.

Now consider the effects of starting DST earlier and ending it later.

Currently, apart from Tasmania, we start DST at the end of October, when sunrise in Sydney is around 5am and sunset is around 6.20pm. We end DST at the end of March when sunrise is around 6.55am (DST) and sunset is around 6.50pm (DST).

To match the sunrise and sunset times that we have at the end of DST with the beginning would require changing to DST on or about September 15. These would then change to 6.55am and 6.40pm almost an identical match to the end of March.