Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson will continue to support the push to reduce daylight savings to a period of four months, from November to February.
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His announcement follows a meeting held on the weekend with the Walcha branch of the Nationals.
Mr Anderson said that the meeting unanimously voted to bring daylight savings back to a period of four months and he would write to Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner to state their case for the reduction from the current six months to four.
“I support the branch’s push and I recently met with the Cross Border Commissioner Steve Toms and expressed a strong view that NSW should return to four months.
“I understand that Cabinet is currently considering the work done by the commissioner relating to daylight savings and I look forward to the outcome.
“If there is one issue that that is continually raised with me from across the electorate, it is the issue of daylight savings.
“Many communities in the Tamworth electorate have expressed the same feeling as the people of Walcha and I fully support their ideas,” Mr Anderson said.
Gunnedah residents have called for a shorter period of daylight savings, with Judith Law from the Citizens Against Daylight Savings saying in April this year she continued to receive complaints.
She said people wanted it to end in February and not April.
She said a “growing majority” wanted daylight savings to end on April 16 this year and then to have a two to three year trial without daylight savings.
Walcha Nationals branch secretary Sonia O’Keefe said the issue of daylight savings had been a regular item on the agenda for the past three years.
“The branch believe that the issues surrounding the current length has gone on for too long and that it should be reduced to at least four months, starting in November and ending in February,” Mrs O’Keefe said.
NSW daylight savings is synchronised with Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.
Both Victorian and Queensland governments have indicated that changing daylight saving arrangements is not priority at the moment.
Mr Anderson said moving our clocks forward to provide extra daylight hours after normal working hours was originally introduced to provide new business opportunities for retail, hospitality, sport and tourism businesses and more time for family activities.
“Other benefits include reduced energy costs for lighting and greater health and wellbeing for the whole community through increased leisure hours.
“Despite the stated benefits, daylight savings and time zone anomalies in NSW remains a real concern for many rural communities.
“I believe daylight savings should be reduced to four months, from the start of November to the end of February, and I support the community’s push to make that happen,” Mr Anderson said.
