State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has ruled out the introduction of daylight saving in Queensland, despite a petition launched on Monday by Brisbane Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner calling for a new referendum on the issue.
At noon on Tuesday, Cr Schrinner’s e-petition had attracted 3587 votes.
Speaking on ABC Radio, Premier Palaszczuk also ruled out dividing the State into two time-zones, which would allow the south-east corner to have daylight saving while the rest of Queensland remained on standard time.
Previous proposals to split the State into different time zones have suggested several boundaries close to the South Burnett, which could prove a nightmare for local residents.
“Queensland is a very, very large State and whilst the people in the south-east would like it, I know a lot of people across regional Queensland would oppose it, ” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Cr Schrinner, who has been a long-time campaigner for daylight saving, said Queensland’s lack of daylight saving was costing the economy $4 billion a year.
He said there were almost one million new residents in Queensland since the last referendum was held 25 years ago.
