The October long weekend is arguably the best public holiday of the year: It usually includes two footy grand finals, the official beginning of beach season, and for the south-eastern states, the beginning of daylight saving time. That means the sun sets later, which means more time for a few sneaky wines as the sun sets. It’s BBQ time, the beginning of festival season and Christmas is just around the corner.
But not this year. For the first time in 12 years, daylight saving doesn’t begin on the October long weekend. Instead, it will kick in next Sunday.
NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman, who oversees the switch in his state, told the ABC the change simply comes down to a quirk in the calendar, because this year’s October long weekend actually begins in September.
“About every seventh year you’re going to have a long weekend that straddles September and October,” he said, explaining that if NSW started daylight saving this weekend, the state would be out of sync with other daylight saving states.
So just to be clear, if you live in NSW, Victoria, the ACT, South Australia or Tasmania, daylight saving kicks in next Sunday, October 7 at 2am. It will end at 3am on April 7, 2019.
Meanwhile if you live in Queensland, WA or the Northern Territory, sorry guys, but you won’t get it at all.
