Spring forward into daylight savings

Summer is on its way. File Photo.

It's that time of year again when barbeques and swimming are put back on the cards, with the sun setting later in the day.

Daylight savings will start this Sunday, September 24, where clocks will go forward by one hour starting at 2am to become 3am.

People are being reminded to put the clocks forward, that don't automatically do so, by one hour before they go to bed on Saturday night.

The daylight saving period runs from the last Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April.

The change to daylight saving is also an opportunity for residents to check their household emergency plans, survival kits and home smoke alarms.

Daylight savings history

New Zealand was one of the first countries in the world to officially adopt a nationally observed time standard.

New Zealand Mean Time, adopted on November 2, 1868, was set at 11 hours 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

Greenwich Mean Time was established by British Railways in the 1840s, but was not made Great Britain's standard time until 1880.

Entomologist and astronomer George Hudson was the earliest known advocate of daylight saving in New Zealand.

Hudson presented a paper in Wellington in 1895 advocating for seasonal time adjustment.

The idea was ridiculed and it was 1909 when the issue was next raised by Hon. Sir Thomas Sidey, who argued for putting clocks forward by an hour during summer.

A member's bill was put to parliament but rejected. Thomas, however, kept putting his bill forward every year until it was adopted in 1927.

Over the years the bill has been revised, with the latest revision in 2006.

A petition to extend daylight saving was presented to Parliament, which contained an estimated 42,000 signatures.

The Minister of Internal Affairs Hon Rick Barker announced on April 30, 2007, that the period of daylight saving would be extended to run from the last Sunday in September until the first Sunday in April.

You may also like....

0 comments

Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.