On 8 February 2015 at 13:30, Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu> wrote:
The South Australian government is considering changing their clocks by 30 minutes.  The government would prefer advancing clocks by 30 minutes to match the time on the east coast.  The public is split.  Much of the resistance is coming from the west part of the state, where locals worry about their children leaving for school in the dark, and the government is prepared to consider changing school hours to address this.  Another possibility is retarding clocks by 30 minutes; this would move closer to solar time, and would align better with Asia.

After a two-month public consultation and an economic report, the South Australian government still favors advancing 30 minutes to Eastern Time.  This is despite 41% of business community respondents favoring retarding clocks by 30 minutes instead to so-called "true" Central Time, compared to just 15% favoring Eastern Time.  Most, though, believed "there was 'little to no inconvenience' under the current arrangements" and want to keep the current zone.

However, the report from the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies rebukes the status quo, suggesting that either shift "is estimated to produce net benefits over its costs, however, the shift to [Eastern Time] produces a substantially larger benefit" of as much as AU$2.5 billion.

Premier Jay Weatherill says that, before issuing a final judgement, the government will first investigate the impacts to Adelaide's airport operations, as well as "the option of a local, unofficial time" or other measures for the state's west coast to minimize impacts there.

The change could take place as soon as April 2017.


Shift to Eastern Standard Time favoured by SA Government, despite business reticence. ABC, 2015-07-28.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-28/time-zone-shift-to-est-favoured-by-sa-gov/6653614

South Australia wants to move clocks forward 30 minutes. The Australian, 2015-07-28.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/south-australia-wants-to-move-clocks-forward-30-minutes/story-e6frg6nf-1227460165659

Bring SA time into line with east: govt. 9NEWS/AAP, 2015-07-28.
http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/07/28/12/57/sa-govts-wants-est

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Tim Parenti