DAYLIGHT saving will finally come to Western Australia next year – and not just in the summer months.
A spokesman for Premier Mark McGowan announced the measure today as eastern states residents wound their clocks back overnight.
In a landmark manoeuvre, WA will move its clock forward one hour permanently on January 1 next year – meaning during winter WA will only be one hour behind the east coast.
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READ NOWThe State Government resisted the trend of previous governments to hold referendums on the issue, instead saying it was time WA caught up with the rest of the country.
“We had a couple of plans on the table,” a government spokesperson told Community News.
“Mark (McGowan, premier) was red hot on this – he wanted to move the clocks forward three hours so we’d be an hour ahead of Melbourne in the winter.
“We had to explain to him that it wouldn’t be getting dark until, like, midnight.
“Mark said ‘that’s ok – we’ll stick it right up ’em’.”
But sanity prevailed, and a move forward of one hour permanently was agreed on during a marathon party room sitting.
“We’ve decided to bring WA a lot closer in line with our eastern states counterparts, so that we can finally shrug that annoying ‘Wait Awhile’ tag,” Mr McGowan said in a statement.
“As of January 1, 2019, we’ll move the clocks forward all year round – meaning we’ll only be one hour behind the eastern states during the winter months.”
Mr McGowan said it was up to Perth residents how they spent the extra hour of sunshine each day.
“They could go for a walk, or maybe we could fit in an extra meal – something between afternoon tea and dinner would be amazing,” he said.
“Me personally? I’m going to use it for napping.”
Mr McGowan announced a raft of conditions to appease those who strongly opposed the move.
Dairy farmers can apply for a special ‘bovine dispensation’ to ensure their cows’ milking schedules are not thrown out by the changes.
Similarly, people over the age of 60 concerned about colour bleaching from drapes and blinds can apply in writing to have the extra hour of sunshine removed from their area.
Today’s date is April 1.