On October 29, 1988, The Canberra Times reminded readers to set their clocks an hour forward with daylight saving due to begin at 2am the next morning.

Starting daylight saving was not the controversial issue. The question on the minds of Canberrans was if the ACT would follow NSW in ending daylight saving two weeks earlier than Victoria and Tasmania.

"No decision had been made yet on whether the ACT would follow the NSW decision to end daylight saving two weeks early, a spokesman for the minister responsible for the ACT, Mr [Clyde] Holding, said yesterday," the article said.

"Daylight saving is to end in NSW on the first Sunday in March [1989]. It is to end in Tasmania and Victoria on the third Sunday in March[1989]."

While an hour can pass quickly, and a fortnight is not too long at all, a difference in time zone between borders could have strange effects. Particularly with a porous border between ACT and NSW; those living in Queanbeyan and working in Canberra would not only be commuting, they would be time travelling.

Daylight saving association of NSW president Michael Wilson said the NSW government's decision to end daylight saving early would be chaotic for businesses, media and transport.

"When this happened six years ago,businesses - especially the Victorian stock exchange-were plunged into chaos," Mr Wilson said.

Mr Wilson and the daylight saving association of NSW planned to petition the NSW government to bring the state's daylight savings period in line with Victoria and Tasmania.

Daylight saving is still politically contentious in Australia. Notably Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia do not observe the practice.

Today, ACT and the eastern states who observe daylight saving start and end on the same day to avoid any confusion. This current period of daylight saving began on October 4, 2020 and will end on April 4, 2021.

See: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/102018015