TAMWORTH MP Kevin Anderson says the campaign to reduce daylight saving time by one month will continue despite a motion being defeated in parliament last week.
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Nationals MP for Tweed Geoff Provest raised the issue in parliament last week, determined it was time for a change
Mr Provest put up a notice of motion on Thursday, however it was defeated by the opposition.
He was supported by Mr Anderson who raised concerns on the impact of families and the agricultural sector in his electorate.
Mr Anderson’s reasoning behind the shift is concerns for regional school children who would effectively be going to school in the dark.
“It’s something I’ve been campaigning for, for a very long time to have it reduced by a month,” he said.
“It’s purely because we are getting to that time of the year where are getting towards winter and need to bring the clocks back in time – it’s a situation that consistently affects families in regional NSW.”
Mr Anderson said ideally, he’d like to see Daylight Saving be brought back to four months rather than six.
“It sends families out of kilter, it gets too dark and upsets routines in terms of bus time tables and and agricultural operations. Everybody wants those extra hours in summertime, but as the days get shorter and we start to move toward winter it should be cut back.
“At the start of daylight saving every year and at the end of daylight saving, I get letters and phone calls from people who say it is too long.”
Mr Anderson and Mr Provest aren’t the only politicians in northern NSW on the bandwagon. Earlier this year, Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall tabled a petition of more than 6,000 signatures supporting the reduction of daylight saving by one month in parliament in support of Mr Provest’s bill.
“Daylight saving strikes a good balance, evening things out so that people can carry out their daily work routines with the same amount of daylight, but the last month is problematic,” Mr Marshall said in parliament on Thursday.