And here it is: my annual column about daylight saving time.
On the first Sunday of October every year, the geniuses down south turn their clocks forward so they can catch an extra hour of sunshine. Well, I think that’s why they do it.
And every year, leading up to that mathematical magic trick, there is debate about why we can’t join in, usually by southerners who have moved to the great state of Queensland.
I usually explain to them that the extra hour fades the curtains and confuses the cows.
But more importantly, it has a huge impact on the hospitality industry. People dine later, which means an extra hour on the wage bill for an industry nearly crippled by wage costs.
Of course, the southerners rebuke my banana-bending logic.
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Normally, I don’t really care, but something changed last week when I turned on the telly to find a radio star discussing daylight savings for the southeast.
Normally I would have dismissed it as another whining southerner, but this person is a third-generation Queenslander, so I was surprised, hoping I had misheard.
Just in case I did actually hear right, and given she is a true-blue Queenslander, I thought I should give her view some thought.
I can see that she has considered our northern friends, given the heat up there and the risk to their curtains.
But the idea of two time zones within our state does not appeal to me. While thinking about it, I learned just how vast the southeast is: it stretches from Moore Park to the Tweed River and almost as far west as Longreach.
The problems are many as far as I’m concerned.
Firstly, what message does it send to the rest of the state? In my view, the north already feels unloved. Imagine if we now decide to be an hour ahead – Bob Katter would have a deadset pink fit.
The real concern for me would be for places like Monto where the cows sleep in, while just over the hill in Biloela, the cows will be up at normal time. Same as in Adavale, Longreach and many other western towns along the invisible line.
It is way too complicated for me to get my head around. I am hoping I heard her wrong, as this is giving me a headache: ‘where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise’.
Ashley Robinson is Metropolitan Caloundra Surf Club CEO, chairman of Thunder Netball and a lifetime Sunshine Coast resident.
