16th May 2009
It was the year 2009. Kevin Rudd was running the country, people still used MySpace (sort of), and in Western Australia, we were gearing up for our fourth bloody daylight saving referendum — because apparently, we hadn't argued about it enough the first three times.
See, the eastern states had been winding their clocks forward for yonks, acting all smug with their “extra daylight” like they’d invented sunshine. Meanwhile, over in WA, we were split into two camps:
· The “Yeh Nah”s, who reckoned daylight saving was a load of rot.
· And the “Nah Yeh”s, who liked having daylight after work for barbies, backyard cricket, and chasing the kids around until they collapsed from sugar and heatstroke.
Now, the government had already sneakily trialled daylight saving for three summers, thinking we'd warm to it like a snag on the barbie. But by May 16, 2009 — Referendum Day — the vibe was tense. It felt like the whole state was at war with time itself.
Old mate Barry down the road was leading the “No” campaign. He’d stuck homemade signs all over town saying things like:
“COWS DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR CLOCKS!”
“DAYLIGHT SAVING FADED ME CURTAINS!”
“WHAT’S NEXT, SAVING MOONLIGHT?”
Meanwhile, young techy types were tweeting things like:
“Ugh. Sun goes down too early. Want more light to play Wii Fit.”
Things got weird. One bloke in Mandurah tried to start a pro-DS flash mob at a Bunnings sausage sizzle. They danced to “Time After Time” until someone chucked a snag at them. Peace was restored.
Come voting day, people rocked up confused — not because they didn’t know how to vote, but because no one could agree on what time the polls actually opened.
"I rocked up at 8," said Cheryl from Kalgoorlie.
"Turns out it was 7."
"Or 9. Look, I dunno. I just wanted a snag and to go home."
Eventually, the votes were tallied, and the result was as clear as a cloudless Perth arvo:
NO to daylight saving.
Again.
The Premier shrugged. The cows mooed contentedly. And Barry, curtain-saver and clock-watcher, cracked a tinny and shouted,
“TOLD YA SO!”
And that, mates, is how Western Australia decided — for the fourth and possibly final time — that we’d rather live in Standard Time Forever than fiddle with the clocks one more bloody time.
* as depicted by AI - may not factually be correct