Western Australian daylight savings referendum, 2009
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Western Australian daylight savings referendum was held on 16 May 2009 in the Australia
n state of Western Australia
to decide if daylight saving time
should be adopted. It was the fourth such proposal which had been put to Western Australian voters and followed a three-year trial period. The referendum
failed with 54.56% voting against the proposal.
between 1968 and 1971, but Queensland
, the Northern Territory
and Western Australia
did not do so. In Western Australia, three referendums were held in 1975
, 1984
and 1992
on the issue, with daylight saving being rejected each time.
On 25 October 2006, two members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
, former Labor
minister turned independent
member John D'Orazio
and Liberal
leader Matt Birney
, introduced a private members' bill for a three-year trial of daylight saving to begin in December 2006. The Labor government of Western Australia backed the trial and both main parties agreed to hold a free vote
on the issue. Farming groups quickly came out against the move, along with the mining lobby, but the move was backed by business groups. The bill was approved by the lower house 37-14 and then by the upper house
21-10, enabling the trial to start from the 3 December.
During 2007 there was growing opposition to daylight saving time with some in the National Party
calling for people to ignore the trial. In October 2007 the Liberal Party
proposed a bill to bring the referendum forward to early 2008 because of the backlash against daylight saving, and a petition was signed by 66,000 people supporting holding the referendum in 2008. However this was not successful and the referendum was called for 16 May 2009.
Are you in favour of daylight saving being introduced in Western Australia by standard time in the State being advanced one hour from the last Sunday in October 2009 until the last Sunday in March 2010 and in similar fashion for each following year?
Opposition was strongest in rural areas of Western Australia with farmers arguing that it caused problems for them. Opponents argued that daylight saving led to more deaths on the roads and that it was inconvenient for families. With daylight saving they also said that electricity consumption was increased, damaging the environment.
Campaigning was intense during the week before the poll. On 11 May, the WA Farmers Federation claimed the Electoral Commission was biased as, while voters were instructed to write the words "Yes" or "No" in the box, a tick would be accepted as a yes, while a cross would be marked an invalid vote. On 13 May, Kalgoorlie independent MP John Bowler
, who was a daylight saving supporter, pledged that if the referendum was passed, he would move a private member's bill to exclude March from the period. However, supporters labelled this a stunt, as there was no guarantee the bill would pass Parliament.
Opinion poll
s gave no clear indication as to the eventual result. While The West Australian
tipped a 53% 'no' vote, the Sunday Times
, which conducted an online poll via its PerthNow portal, tipped a 53% 'yes' vote. The Premier of Western Australia
Colin Barnett
did not declare which way he would vote until the day of the referendum, when he said that he had voted yes, but that a no vote was the most likely outcome of the referendum.
It was compulsory to vote
at the referendum, and 1,148,851 voters, representing 85.64% of enrolled voters, turned out
to cast a vote. Non-voters faced a fine of $20 to $50.
The 'no' vote was strongest in regional and rural areas as well as the outer suburbs of Perth. The 'no' vote had a majority in 35 of the state's 59 electorates
, including all of the non-metropolitan electorates ranging from 85.36% in Wagin
to 55.91% in Birney's former electorate of Kalgoorlie
, but also including 18 of metropolitan Perth's 42 electorates. The 'yes' vote achieved a majority in 24 electorates, all but two of which were in the North Metropolitan
and South Metropolitan
regions. The electorates of Ocean Reef
(63.01%), Perth
(59.96%), Joondalup
(59.20%), Hillarys
(58.33%) and Kingsley
(56.66%) recorded the highest 'yes' votes.
Following the fourth rejection of daylight saving time in a referendum the issue was described as being dead for a generation, with Premier Colin Barnett saying that "it should not be considered for another 20 years."
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n state of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
to decide if daylight saving time
Daylight saving time
Daylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...
should be adopted. It was the fourth such proposal which had been put to Western Australian voters and followed a three-year trial period. The referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
failed with 54.56% voting against the proposal.
Background
Various states and territories in Australia adopted daylight saving timeDaylight saving time
Daylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...
between 1968 and 1971, but Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
and Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
did not do so. In Western Australia, three referendums were held in 1975
Western Australian daylight savings referendum, 1975
A referendum was held on 8 March 1975 in the Australian state of Western Australia on the topic of introducing daylight saving. It was the first of four such proposals which have been put to Western Australian voters, and followed a trial over the 1974–1975 summer...
, 1984
Western Australian daylight savings referendum, 1984
A referendum was held on 7 April 1984 in the Australian state of Western Australia on the topic of introducing daylight saving. It was the second of four such proposals which have been put to Western Australian voters, and followed a trial over the 1983–1984 summer...
and 1992
Western Australian daylight savings referendum, 1992
A referendum was held on 4 April 1992 in the Australian state of Western Australia on the topic of introducing daylight saving. It was the third of four such proposals which have been put to Western Australian voters, and followed a trial over the 1991–1992 summer...
on the issue, with daylight saving being rejected each time.
On 25 October 2006, two members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
, former Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
minister turned independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
member John D'Orazio
John D'Orazio
John Biase D'Orazio was a Western Australian politician. A pharmacist by trade, he served as mayor of the City of Bayswater from 1983 until 2000, then was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly electorate of Ballajura in 2001, where he served until 2008.Elected as a member of the...
and Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
leader Matt Birney
Matt Birney
Matthew John Birney is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2006....
, introduced a private members' bill for a three-year trial of daylight saving to begin in December 2006. The Labor government of Western Australia backed the trial and both main parties agreed to hold a free vote
Conscience vote
A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party....
on the issue. Farming groups quickly came out against the move, along with the mining lobby, but the move was backed by business groups. The bill was approved by the lower house 37-14 and then by the upper house
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
21-10, enabling the trial to start from the 3 December.
During 2007 there was growing opposition to daylight saving time with some in the National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
calling for people to ignore the trial. In October 2007 the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
proposed a bill to bring the referendum forward to early 2008 because of the backlash against daylight saving, and a petition was signed by 66,000 people supporting holding the referendum in 2008. However this was not successful and the referendum was called for 16 May 2009.
Question
The question voted on in the referendum was:Are you in favour of daylight saving being introduced in Western Australia by standard time in the State being advanced one hour from the last Sunday in October 2009 until the last Sunday in March 2010 and in similar fashion for each following year?
Campaign
Business groups were among the main supporters of daylight saving time and financed the 'yes' campaign. The 'yes' campaign argued that it would make dealing with businesses from the east of Australia easier during the summer as it would reduce the time difference. They also put the case that with daylight saving time, families would be able to spend more time together outdoors after work while it was still light.Opposition was strongest in rural areas of Western Australia with farmers arguing that it caused problems for them. Opponents argued that daylight saving led to more deaths on the roads and that it was inconvenient for families. With daylight saving they also said that electricity consumption was increased, damaging the environment.
Campaigning was intense during the week before the poll. On 11 May, the WA Farmers Federation claimed the Electoral Commission was biased as, while voters were instructed to write the words "Yes" or "No" in the box, a tick would be accepted as a yes, while a cross would be marked an invalid vote. On 13 May, Kalgoorlie independent MP John Bowler
John Bowler
John Bowler may refer to:*John Bowler , English actor in The Bill*John Bowler , Western Australian politician*John Bowler , Chairman of English football club Crewe Alexandra...
, who was a daylight saving supporter, pledged that if the referendum was passed, he would move a private member's bill to exclude March from the period. However, supporters labelled this a stunt, as there was no guarantee the bill would pass Parliament.
Opinion poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
s gave no clear indication as to the eventual result. While The West Australian
The West Australian
The West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
tipped a 53% 'no' vote, the Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (Western Australia)
The Sunday Times, owned by News Limited, is a tabloid Sunday newspaper printed in Perth and distributed throughout Western Australia.-History:...
, which conducted an online poll via its PerthNow portal, tipped a 53% 'yes' vote. The Premier of Western Australia
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
Colin Barnett
Colin Barnett
Colin James Barnett , Australian politician, is the leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party, the 29th and current Premier of Western Australia since the 2008 election and served as the Treasurer of Western Australia in 2010. He was sworn into office by Governor Ken Michael on 23 September 2008...
did not declare which way he would vote until the day of the referendum, when he said that he had voted yes, but that a no vote was the most likely outcome of the referendum.
Results
The referendum proposition was rejected, with 54.56% voting no, as against 45.44% who voted yes.It was compulsory to vote
Compulsory voting
Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid...
at the referendum, and 1,148,851 voters, representing 85.64% of enrolled voters, turned out
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
to cast a vote. Non-voters faced a fine of $20 to $50.
The 'no' vote was strongest in regional and rural areas as well as the outer suburbs of Perth. The 'no' vote had a majority in 35 of the state's 59 electorates
Electoral districts of Western Australia
The Western Australian Legislative Assembly is elected from 59 single-member electoral districts. These districts are often referred to as electorates or seats....
, including all of the non-metropolitan electorates ranging from 85.36% in Wagin
Electoral district of Wagin
Wagin is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.Wagin is named for the rural town of Wagin. The district covers a vast expanse of territory in Western Australia's Wheatbelt region....
to 55.91% in Birney's former electorate of Kalgoorlie
Electoral district of Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district includes not only the town of Kalgoorlie, but significant parts of the outback in central and eastern Western Australia....
, but also including 18 of metropolitan Perth's 42 electorates. The 'yes' vote achieved a majority in 24 electorates, all but two of which were in the North Metropolitan
Electoral region of North Metropolitan
The electoral region of North Metropolitan is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the north-western and western suburbs of Perth. It was created by the Acts Amendment Act 1987, and became effective on 22 May 1989 with seven members who had been...
and South Metropolitan
Electoral region of South Metropolitan
The electoral region of South Metropolitan is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the southern suburbs of Perth. It was created by the Acts Amendment Act 1987, and became effective on 22 May 1989 with five members who had been elected at the...
regions. The electorates of Ocean Reef
Electoral district of Ocean Reef
The Electoral district of Ocean Reef is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. The district is named for the outer northern Perth suburb of Ocean Reef which falls within its borders.-History:...
(63.01%), Perth
Electoral district of Perth
The Electoral district of Perth is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Perth is named for the capital city of Western Australia whose central business district falls within its borders. It is one of the oldest electorates in Western Australia, with its first member...
(59.96%), Joondalup
Electoral district of Joondalup
Joondalup is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is located in the northern suburbs of Perth.Joondalup has tended to be a marginal seat.-Geography:...
(59.20%), Hillarys
Electoral district of Hillarys
Hillarys is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is based in Perth's northern suburbs. Politically, it is a safe Liberal seat.-Geography:...
(58.33%) and Kingsley
Electoral district of Kingsley
-External links:* ABC Election Profiles: * WAEC District Maps:...
(56.66%) recorded the highest 'yes' votes.
Following the fourth rejection of daylight saving time in a referendum the issue was described as being dead for a generation, with Premier Colin Barnett saying that "it should not be considered for another 20 years."
| Electorate | Turnout (%) | For (%) | Against (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,341,554 | 1,148,851 (85.64) | 519,899 (45.44) | 624,302 (54.56) |
| Source: ABC Elections | |||