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| Bill presented and read a first time. Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. The purpose of this bill is to change legal references to standard time from Greenwich Mean Time to Coordinated Universal Time. Greenwich Mean Time is a solar time scale based on the rotation of the earth. It is measured by the average time the earth takes to rotate on its axis from noon to noon at a chosen location. It is also technically known as universal time. It is based upon astrological observations and is a mathematical mean defined in terms of the solar second measured at the former location of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. There are considerable drawbacks to measuring time based on the erratic motion of the earth, the rate of which fluctuates by a few thousandths of a second per day. Coordinated Universal Time, on the other hand, is a more accurate time scale maintained by a system of highly accurate atomic clocks around the world. It is accurate to approximately a nanosecond or one billionth of a second per day. Although the difference between the two time scales is often too small for humans to notice, it is very important for computer programs that use high speed data transfers and in universal synchronisation applications. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris coordinates data from atomic clocks located in timing laboratories around the globe, including the Australian National Measurement Institute and the United States Naval Observatory, to provide the International Standard Coordinated Universal Time. Coordinated Universal Time is distributed by standard radio stations that broadcast utility information, such as time, and is also the base of the satellite-based Global Positioning System. Coordinated Universal Time is also the recognised legal standard for time under the Commonwealth National Measurement Act 1960, and it is the only time scale supported by technical infrastructure. Amendments to the National Measurement Act in 1997 inserted a provision which required the Chief Meteorologist to maintain Coordinated Universal Time as determined by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. Coordinated Universal Time is therefore the recognised legal measurement of time in Australia. At the state and territory level, the only statutes referring to Greenwich Mean Time are the standard time acts and the equivalent provisions in other legislation. In the Northern Territory, the Standard Time Act 1898 of South Australia, has continued to apply. In June last year, Dr Richard Britain, secretary of the National Time Commission, wrote to the relative ministers in all Australian states and territories recommending that references to Greenwich Mean Time in legislation be replaced with Coordinated Universal Time. As a result of Dr Britain's approach, the issue of Coordinated Universal Time was discussed by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General at their November 2004 meeting, and it was agreed that references in state and territory legislation to Greenwich Mean Time would be replaced with Coordinated Universal Time. This bill implements that agreement by repealing the Standard Time Act 1898 and replacing it with this bill, which provides that standard time in the Northern Territory is to be 9 hours and 30 minutes in advance of Coordinated Universal Time. The act is to commence, as will equivalent legislation in other jurisdictions, on 1 September 2005. This date was chosen to avoid confusion and to allow sufficient time to facilitate the change prior to the beginning of the daylight savings period in 2005 for those jurisdictions that adopt daylight savings. Madam Speaker, I table the explanatory statement which accompanies this bill, and I commend the bill to honourable members, and I thank members for their forbearance on what is a fairly obtuse bill, but I believe it is making history by legislating for computers, so we move on into the future. Debate adjourned. |