Reminder that NZ clocks are changing on Sunday.
Jury still out on daylight saving
The Press | Saturday, 05 April 2008
It is too soon to tell if this summer's extended daylight saving period has been a success, the Government says.
Daylight saving time officially ends tomorrow at 3am, when clocks should be put back an hour to 2am but most people will alter their timepieces before going to bed tonight.
New Zealand had an extra three weeks of daylight saving this summer, after more than 42,000 people signed a petition to Parliament in 2006 calling for the extension.
A spokesman for Internal Affairs Minister Rick Barker said yesterday the change was permanent but the Government would still canvass the nation's views on it.
The research would be done for the Department of Internal Affairs by an independent research company and a report on the extension's "impact upon electricity consumption, traffic accidents and tourism" was expected to be with the minister mid-year.
Barker would reserve judgment on whether the change had been successful until this research had been completed, his spokesman said.
In 1975, daylight saving was introduced to run from the last Sunday in October each year to the first Sunday in March of the following year.
That was extended in 1990 to stretch from the first Sunday in October until the third Sunday in March.
Daylight saving is now from the last Sunday in September until the first Sunday in April.
Federated Farmers president Charlie Pedersen said farmers had mixed feelings about the extra weeks but were "as partial to a beer and a barbecue or an evening game of tennis as the next person".
Supporters of the extension said it would help the economy, save power and encourage tourists.
Daylight saving starts again on Sunday, September 28, at 2am, when clocks should be put forward an hour.
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