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Home / New Zealand

The Front Page: Is it time to make daylight saving permanent?

Damien Venuto
By Damien Venuto
NZ Herald·
3 Apr, 2022 05:00 PM3 mins to read

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More Covid restrictions to be reviewed, why the builders of Transmission Gully have been hit with a multi-million dollar fine and fire crews battle a blaze at Awarua wetlands in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald

The clocks have again been turned back, commandeering an hour of our afternoon sunshine and causing havoc for parents with small kids.

Some members of society are fed up with this arbitrary tradition of clock changing and they're making their voices heard.

On today's episode of The Front Page podcast, psychotherapist Kyle MacDonald and Newstalk ZB chief political reporter Jason Walls join us for a look at the rising rebellion against the annual assault on our circadian rhythms.

• Follow the Front Page podcast here.

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In mid-March, the United States Senate passed a bill that made daylight saving time permanent off the back of proponents long arguing that it would give kids more time outdoors during winter and would also help to combat seasonal depression.

Last year, the small Fiordland tourist town of Te Anau stood up last year and declared it summertime forever, opting out of changing the clocks back.

Local campaigner Louis Houlbrook has also been calling for some time to bring an end to the time yoyo that has its roots in some curious historical mythology.

The story behind daylight saving began in 1784 in a satirical article penned by US politician Benjamin Franklin as a method to make candles last longer.

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New Zealand's relationship with it has even stranger origins. In 1895, entomologist George Hudson presented the idea to the Wellington Philosophical Society. His motivation? To have more time after his work shift to collect bugs in the summer months.

By 1908, Port Arthur in Canada would become the first place in the world to start using daylight saving. New Zealand would follow in 1927, and the idea was later picked up around the world. (The modern iteration was made official in 1974/5).

More recently, many have been questioning why daylight saving is still a tradition that we're willing to put ourselves through every year - particularly amid growing evidence that there are social and economic benefits to locking in permanent summer hours.

So after nearly five decades of changing our clocks back and forth, back and forth, is it time for New Zealand to follow the US lead and just lock in a preference?

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Our guests on today's episode provide some compelling reasons why this might be a good idea.

• The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am.

• You can follow the podcast at nzherald.co.nz, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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