Image: Michael Coghlan.
The familiar scenario of counting back and forward half an hour when eastern coast states relate to South Australia could be a thing of the past if the Jay Weatherill government decides to make a radical shift in the Festival State’s time zone.
The half-hour time delay between South Australia and the east coast states makes South Australia the odd one out, considering the three hour difference between the east coast and the west coast of Australia.
The idea to move the minute hand on the clock to synchronise with Eastern Standard Time (EST) has been proposed by the South Australian government following the release of two reports that list the benefits or difficulties a potential change in time zone could cause.
One report titled “What We Heard” listed significant advantages in aligning South Australia with the major eastern states, which have prompted the government to lean towards favouring a shift in time zone, even though “more work needed to be done”.
The report’s listed benefits included a boost to business opportunities through better communication with east coast suppliers, customers and branch offices; elimination of problems with computer systems when time-aware applications such as online diaries are used; and tourists can plan their trips more easily.
And on a wider cultural angle, the report said that the half hour difference feeds a perception that South Australia is “out of touch”.
Mr Weatherill said this has been a very worthwhile exercise with many arguments put forward for a change and many also against a change.
“Some myths about time zone shifts have been put to bed, while other issues have emerged for the first time as key considerations,” Mr Weatherill said.
The second report carried out by the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies placed a dollar value on the benefits of a time zone shift, by estimating that $2.5 billion in net economic benefits would result from a change.
The government is giving the move serious consideration following the release of the reports, as SA Minister for Investment and Trade Martin Hamilton-Smith will undertake two more pieces of work before the state government is in a position to make a “proper judgement”.
Mr Weatherill has approached the matter cautiously, saying that the government needs to look more closely at the potential effects a shift to EST would have on the operations of Adelaide airport and airlines.
“We also need to consider any potential measures we should consider which could minimise the impact of any change to the west coast community, including the option of a local, unofficial time,” Mr Weatherill said.
Mr Hamilton-Smith said aviation industry submissions raised concerns around the impact on some flights.
“One company said a late-departing flight could be impacted with an estimated loss of load factor of 20 per cent,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said.
He said other airlines said their services would benefit from the changes and the government is working to resolve these issues before proceeding with any change.
