A renewed push to revive daylight saving in WA appears dead on arrival, with the government and opposition pouring cold water on a proposed private member's bill to reinstate the practice across the state.
Daylight Saving Party MLC Wilson Tucker has called on Premier Mark McGowan to legislate the return of the practice to Western Australia, instead of holding another referendum.
Mr Tucker, who sits on the crossbench of Western Australia's Upper House, won his seat after he was elected with just 98 votes, or 0.2 per cent of the vote, and represents WA's Mining and Pastoral region where voters have delivered strong no votes in daylight saving referendums in 1975, 1984, 1992, and 2009.
Labor Minister Sue Ellery, who as leader of the government in the Upper House effectively controls the likelihood of Mr Tucker's bill being considered, was dismissive.
"Anyone can introduce a bill … but this is not a priority for government at this time," she told ABC Perth.
"Daylight saving is not something that's been raised with me in my electorate since the last referendum."
Premier Mark McGowan reinforced the dismissal late yesterday, confirming the government would look to "respect" the results of the previous four referendums.
Timing right to push for vote
The introduction of daylight saving was the sole policy Mr Tucker ran on at the state election and said the timing was now right to make the move.
He said changing attitudes and census data over the past three years had highlighted a need to revisit the issue and said his interactions with constituents were significantly different to Ms Ellery's.
"I would fundamentally disagree with Sue Ellery around people, what they are saying in the community," he said.
"We know that in the last referendum the vote came in the negative, but it was only by a very small margin.
"People are raising this issue of daylight saving. I don't think Sue is listening hard enough."
Opponents say MLC is out of touch
Goldfields man Nick Fardell ran against Mr Tucker as a candidate for the WA Nationals and said Mr Tucker's insistence on pursuing the issue highlighted his disconnect from the region and its residents.
He said he did not fundamentally object to daylight saving but the discussion was distracting from more pressing issues in the region.
"It's an absolute disgrace in what this bloke has done in representing the people of his seat," Mr Fardell said.
"He's done nothing to raise the issues of justice all the way across the North West and down into the Goldfields, he's done nothing on the school situation and the lack of teachers and the lack of facilities over regional education, and he's done nothing about the health system."
Nationals MLA Shane Love said there had been no shift in attitudes in his regional electorate north of Perth.
"I'm not surprised the party that's called the Daylight Savings Party is putting forward a motion in support for daylight saving," he said.
"I think there were 98 people who voted for [Mr Tucker's] party in his electorate, so it's little wonder they're not looking for a referendum."
Debate sure to divide
Audience feedback on ABC Perth highlighted the divisive range of opinions West Australians held on the issue.
"NO NO NO NO, how many times do we have to say it?" one anonymous texter wrote, while another flipped it with a call to "bring WA out of the dark ages".
Regional resident Alan said the nature of the climate made the idea a much harder sell outside Perth.
"It actually doesn't work in our hot environment," he said.
"You lose the best hour of the morning and the best hour of the evening."
