‘It makes me furious': American shares honest take on Australia's daylight saving time

Daylight saving time has long been a topic of debate and confusion worldwide.

And it seems Australia's approach to the time-tweaking practice has recently caught the ire of an American sports journalist, sparking a heated discussion about the complexities of time zones down under.



Jack Mac, a sports journalist and podcaster, took to social media to express his exasperation after encountering a map illustrating Australia's various time zones during daylight saving.

'Every time I’m reminded of how Australia does time zones, I get mad for no reason,' he said.

‘The daylight saving portion of this graphic makes me furious.’


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Jack Mac shared his frustration about Australia’s daylight saving. Credit: @jackmacbarstool / TikTok


His frustration was palpable as he pointed out the one-hour difference between South Australia and the Northern Territory and Western Australia's decision not to observe daylight saving.

'I’m never visiting Australia because of this. I just decided,' he declared, half in jest.

The sentiment resonated with some of his fellow Americans, who shared their bewilderment and annoyance with Australia's time zones.

'Now I’m annoyed with Australia's time zones. Do I have the time for this? No,' one echoed.

Another added, 'I work with Australians from New York, and the timezones with daylight savings confuses and angers me.'

However, Aussies were quick to jump to their country's defence.

They explained the rationale behind daylight saving, which is primarily to make better use of daylight during the summer months.

'Can’t speak for SA and NT, but I do know that in New South Wales, we have Daylight Savings to maximise the amount of daylight we have in summer,' an Aussie chimed in.

Another suggested, 'Why can’t people just look up why we do this?'



Indeed, the concept of daylight saving is not unique to Australia.

Roughly a third of the world, including most states in the United States of America and Canada, observes some form of clock changing to extend daylight hours in the evening during warmer months.

In the USA, states have the autonomy to decide whether to participate in daylight saving, leading to a patchwork of time zones across the nation.

The US states that don’t participate in daylight savings are Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and most of Arizona.

In Australia, the states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory all sprung forward on 1 October 2023, when clocks were set from 2:00 am to 3:00 am, commencing Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT).

Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia do not observe daylight saving.

This results in five distinct time zones across the Australian mainland from 1 October 2023 to 7 April 2024.

You can watch Jack Mac’s video below:


Credit: @jackmacbarstool / TikTok

Key Takeaways

  • Americans have expressed confusion and frustration at the complexities of Australia's daylight saving time zones.
  • American sports journalist Jack Mac has stated he gets 'furious' when reminded of how Australia handles time zones, particularly during daylight saving.
  • Australians have defended daylight saving time, citing reasons such as maximising daylight during summer.
  • During daylight saving time, Australia experiences five different time zones, but this does not include all states and territories, leading to further confusion for some observers.
Do you have a story or opinion about daylight saving time? Share your stories with us in the comments below!
 
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Why cant the Americans take a good hard look at themselves without their Roses coloured Glasses. They have 6 standard time zones without any variation for daylight saving, so does Canada AND they both have daylight saving. Can someone please explain why idiot Americans opinions are held in such high esteem or are they just laughed at for being so shallow, self-centred and narrow-minded that their view of the world is the only one that counts. This is why I have NO DESIRE to Visit America. Given the general lack of Geographically knowledge among American I'm surprised that this guy even knows that there 3 major Standard Time Zones in Australia. Sorry I'll get off my soap box now
 
My girlfriend is Canadian born and the crap Canadians copped at the hands of their southern neighbours is unparalleled. But they got more than their own back.

I couldn't care less if the east and west coasts of the United States of Arrogance suddenly slipped into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans respectively.
Back in the 60's I had workmates who went to Vietnam (war), they hated going on patrol with Americans because most of the time they were stoned off their faces, quite a few were killed by "friendly fire" Their motto was "Shoot first and ask questions later" Doesn't appear to have changed much.
 
As an expat myself it took me one season to get used to Daylight savings, and I'm well aware of the Queensland/s Kiwi Premiere comments on it, as for the rest, of the like the yanks country we have time zones which are very to remember
 
The one thing I don't like about WA is that we don't have daylight savings.
I love to have that extra hour of sunlight in the evening to work in my garden.
Believe it or not there are people here who still have stupid ideas about curtains fading in the extra hour of sunlight, etc
Oh, and of course the little toddlers can't go to sleep because it's too light. Forget that most toddlers don't have a problem having a midday nap when it's light?
I have family in NSW and it's bad enough being 2 hours behind let alone 3. Wish WA would get with it
Must be terribly difficult for people trying to run a business
 
I hate Daylight saving but seriously? How many time zones do we have compared to the US? Get over yourself
I don't understand why people don't use day light saving as my father did almost 80 years ago.... start an hour early, finish an hour early NO CHANGE OF CLOCKS. I wish those ignorant, idiotic Yanks would drop off the planet. I'm sick of getting compared to them like the stupid woman who asked, amongst other things, "do the children sit on Santa's knee when he wears swimming costumes because it[s so hot in Australia"? I don't understand why the country who thinks they rule the world can be so ridiculous. HEAVEN SAVE ME FROM YANKS. I wish they had an IQ test before they even got on the plane to come here.
 
It has always been a senseless idea. OK it’s maybe great for coastal dwellers giving them the extra time for a swim, however for the rest of us it’s a nightmare, especially for people who are farmers and need to work a second job. Animals are handled by routine not the clock. Remember food you eat along the coast comes from interstate.
 
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Why cant the Americans take a good hard look at themselves without their Roses coloured Glasses. They have 6 standard time zones without any variation for daylight saving, so does Canada AND they both have daylight saving. Can someone please explain why idiot Americans opinions are held in such high esteem or are they just laughed at for being so shallow, self-centred and narrow-minded that their view of the world is the only one that counts. This is why I have NO DESIRE to Visit America. Given the general lack of Geographically knowledge among American I'm surprised that this guy even knows that there 3 major Standard Time Zones in Australia. Sorry I'll get off my soap box now
I agree with you about a lot of Americans, not all. I find opinions expressed by Americans about Australia are often ignorant. Obviously we are not perfect, but we are far ahead of a lot of places around the world.
 
I have just returned from a holiday in Coolangatta/ Tweed Heads area,what a pain watching TV on the NSW side.Most shows are transmitted from the Queensland side,ie,news at 4 when it's 5 in NSW, ABC 7.30 at 8.30 in NSW which then carrys on, so Q&A ends up starting at gone 10.30. Plus your phone chops & changes time around the area, probably depending where the tower is located.
 

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