Could Aussie politics get any more stupid?

[Wildeblood]

Just when you thought Aussie politics couldn't get any stupider (#knightmaregate), this morning's media opportunity with the Greens was classic Greens. They're calling for a two-year trial of daylight saving and subsequent referendum in Queensland. Highlights:-

1. There's an economic benefit to the extra hour of sunlight because of the rising popularity of rooftop solar.

2. "I'm from WA," says Adam Bandt, "So I've been through a two-year trial and referendum and know all the stupid arguments people make." Way to alienate the 4/5 people who voted NO, Mr Bandt.

3. Props - the Greens love props. "It really won't make the curtains fade," he continues, "I've brought this from home to prove it." Holds up a blue curtain.

These clowns are legislators; they make the laws the other 24 million of us have to obey.

[spud42]

does anyone vote for the greens?

apropos of your solar panel comment did you know that in sydney they are trying to get people to realign their panels to the west? apparently it should help more for the afternoon peak usage if they point west instead of north....

[Diziet Sma]

Heck, I'm still pushing for S.E. Queensland to get its' own time zone.. it's too far East to be in the same zone as N.S.W. and Vic. It would also finally do something about the ridiculously early sunrises and sunsets in summertime, even without daylight savings.

[Paladin Tux]

What about us kiddes?

Now that they cut education funds I'm gonna have to hit the injectors more just to run away from people who feel budgets cuts just get passed onto victims!

But to be honest some investments are ok. The desalination plant somewhere off the Vic coast might come in use within 13 years when another massive drought is predicted to hit.

And it is just gonna get worse with all those parties coming up. Anti-islam party? Sex party? And of course...

Clive Palmasaurous.

Check out The Roast. It is on the ABC. Yep. The same one Tony cut funding to.

[spud42]

Heck, I'm still pushing for S.E. Queensland to get its' own time zone.. it's too far East to be in the same zone as N.S.W. and Vic. It would also finally do something about the ridiculously early sunrises and sunsets in summertime, even without daylight savings.

lol.. they probably will eventually but it will be something ridicules like 45 minutes...

[Wildeblood]

Just when you thought Aussie politics couldn't get any stupider...

A week is a long time in politics.

[ClymAngus]

This has to be a joke or a wind up. No human being could possibly be this stupid without forgetting to breath long before they made statements like this.
I'm going to fact check this and if it turns out to be true I will be drinking, heavily.

[Diziet Sma]

This has to be a joke or a wind up. No human being could possibly be this stupid without forgetting to breath long before they made statements like this.
I'm going to fact check this and if it turns out to be true I will be drinking, heavily.

I have bad news for you..

The Robert Heinlein quote "Never underestimate the power of human stupidity." goes double for politicians.

I recall many years ago, whilst objecting to trialling Daylight Savings, a Western Australian politician remarked that it would result in all the men traveling to work on the train in the mornings having erections.

[Wildeblood]

This has to be a joke or a wind up. No human being could possibly be this stupid without forgetting to breath long before they made statements like this.
I'm going to fact check this and if it turns out to be true I will be drinking, heavily.

Unfortunately, this classic television moment has not been preserved for posterity. It was only broadcast on ABC24 live, and wasn't picked up for the evening news bulletins because no-one in Queensland votes Greens. Here's a still photo:-

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-28/l ... dt/6052076

You can see that Mr Bandt was holding something behind the microphones, you'll need to accept my word it was a blue curtain. Notice the <irony>detailed report</irony> our ABC made of this media opportunity.

[Ranthe]

I recall many years ago, whilst objecting to trialling Daylight Savings, a Western Australian politician remarked that it would result in all the men travelling to work on the train in the mornings having erections.

Brings a new definition to the 'hard men' of WA...

(Though I must confess as to why Daylight Saving in Aussie appears to be such a Big Thing, over the other side of the ditch we Kiwis have had it for years without any controversy.)

[cim]

1. There's an economic benefit to the extra hour of sunlight because of the rising popularity of rooftop solar.

It occurs to me this may actually be true. Electricity is impractical to store, so generation as needed is considerably more efficient. If changing the time zones aligned peak demand better with peak sunlight, you'd need to generate less from other sources and/or invest less in storage, which reduces the costs.

Imagine that Australia used UTC, so everyone went to work in the dark. Businesses would get virtually no benefit from their rooftop solar - they could sell it back to the grid, but no-one would be buying at that time when almost everyone is asleep. Adjust your time zone back to a sensible one for your longitude, and they can use that electricity on site with maximum efficiency. In that case, it would certainly be true (though there would be more immediate reasons to make the change)

Whether or not Queensland would receive a noticeable benefit from this I don't know - I can't be bothered to check how the electricity demand curve matches up with the current and predicted solar generation curves - but it may not be as ridiculous as it sounds.

[Diziet Sma]

(Though I must confess as to why Daylight Saving in Aussie appears to be such a Big Thing, over the other side of the ditch we Kiwis have had it for years without any controversy.)

It's only a Big Thing in the states that don't have (and refuse to try) it.. Those states that have it, which is where I've lived much of my life, totally love it and wouldn't be without it. Yes, it can be a bit weird at the height of summer, when the sun doesn't set until 9pm, and I know getting younger kids to go to bed while it's still daylight can be a battle, but damn, it sure lets you get some time in doing what you want outdoors, after work, without running out of light.

One of the many things I'm enjoying again now that I'm no longer in Queensland, is the daylight savings.

[Bugbear]

Gotta respectfully disagree with you Diz.

I've been on both sides of the fence. Grew up on the east coast in NSW, and lived with Daylight Savings through my adolescent and early adult years. Loved it. It just worked.

However, for the past 15 years I've been on the west coast and have quite enjoyed not going through the artificially induced jet lag that is Daylight Savings. My theory is that because WA is such a wide state with the time zone commencing on the WA / SA | NT border, we on the coast are deep enough into the time zone that a one hour time shift pushes thing too far.

For me I was glad to see the back of the DST trial.

But hey, the referendum was lost with a very small margin - something like 49 vs 51, so the above is merely my opinion (maybe I'm just getting older and more cantankerous).

Personally, I'd be all for a compromise where we shift the WA time zone 30min and simply leave it there all year round. At least then we would avoid the elevated risk of heart attacks that occur as a result of the change from normal to DST (i.e. having to get up an hour earlier) - apparently that is actually a thing!

[Diziet Sma]

I'll agree with you that most of our timezones are ridiculously wide.. don't know what should be done about it, though, because so are our States.

[Wildeblood]

But hey, the referendum was lost with a very small margin - something like 49 vs 51, so the above is merely my opinion (maybe I'm just getting older and more cantankerous).

Your memory is playing tricks on you. The referendum had the same overwhelming result that the previous referenda had.

Personally, I'd be all for a compromise where we shift the WA time zone 30min and simply leave it there all year round.

Which is what we already have; WA's time zone is centred on Kalgoorlie, and the clock time in Perth is already shifted about 20 minutes from mean solar time. But try explaining things like that to the economic refugees and all you'll hear in response is "Why don't you have trams in Perth?"

The three great whinges of Homo sapiens australis 'Victorian' x 'Cashed-up Bogan' x 'Economic refugee':
- "We had daylight saving in Melbourne. Why don't you have daylight saving in Qld/WA? You should have daylight saving."
- "We had trams in Melbourne. Why don't you have trams in Qld/WA? You should have trams."
- "Why can't you get a decent cappuccino in [anywhere]. We had great coffee in Melbourne. You can't get coffee as good anywhere else."

In their demented world-view, daylight savings + trams + "decent coffee" = world peace + technological singularity + cultural revolution.