Time in New Zealand
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| Zone | Standard Time | Daylight Time |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | UTC+12:00 | UTC+13:00 |
| Chatham Islands | UTC+12:45 | UTC+13:45 |
| Tokelau | UTC-11:00 | |
| The current Time in New Zealand is: 22:37 2 April 2007 |
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New Zealand has two time zones. The main islands use New Zealand Standard Time (NZST), twelve hours in advance of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), while the outlying Chatham Islands use Chatham Standard Time (CHAST), twelve hours and forty-five minutes in advance of UTC. Tokelau is eleven hours behind UTC.
During the summer months between October and March (see below for exact dates) daylight saving time is observed and clocks are advanced one hour. New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT) is thus thirteen hours ahead of UTC, and Chatham Daylight Time (CHADT) thirteen hours and forty-five minutes ahead.
The Ross Dependency in Antarctica maintains NZST/NZDT, along with McMurdo Station and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.
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[edit] History
On November 2, 1868, New Zealand officially adopted a standard time to be observed nationally, and was perhaps the first country to do so. It was based on the longitude 172° 30' East of Greenwich, eleven and a half hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). This standard was known as New Zealand Mean Time (NZMT).
In 1941, during the Second World War, clocks were advanced half an hour, leaving New Zealand twelve hours ahead of GMT. This change was made permanent from 1946 by the Standard Time Act 1945, in which the time at the meridian 180°E was made the basis for New Zealand Time. NZST would remain half an hour ahead of NZMT, and the Chatham Islands forty-five minutes ahead of NZST.
In the late 1940s, the development of the first atomic clock was announced and several laboratories began atomic time scales. A new time scale known as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) was adopted internationally in 1972. This was based on the readings of atomic clocks but updated periodically in accordance with time variations in the earth's rotation by the addition or deletion of seconds (called leap seconds).
The Time Act 1974 defines New Zealand Standard Time (NZST) as twelve hours in advance of UTC.
[edit] Daylight Saving Time
The Summer Time Act 1929, replaced by the Time Act 1974, gives power to the Governor-General to declare by Order in Council a period when Daylight Time is to be observed. Under the Act, NZDT is one hour in advance of NZST.
The Summer Time Act 1929 provided for Daylight Time to be observed from the second Sunday in October to the third Sunday in March of the following year. Clocks were set half an hour in advance during that time. In 1933, the period was extended from the first Sunday in September to the last Sunday in April of the following year. This continued until the Second World War, when emergency regulations in 1941 extended the Summer Time period to cover the whole year, as described above.
The New Zealand Time Order 1975 fixed period of observance from the last Sunday in October each year to the first Sunday in March of the year following.
In 1985, after ten years' experience of NZDT, a comprehensive survey was undertaken by the Department of Internal Affairs. Public attitudes towards NZDT and its effects on work, recreation and particular groups of people in society were surveyed. The results of the survey demonstrated that 76.2% of the population either wanted NZDT continued or extended.
The survey also concluded that opinion on the topic differed little between sexes, and that support for NZDT was generally higher in urban centres. Support for shortening or abolishing NZDT was always in the minority in the areas surveyed.
In 1988, as a consequence of the survey and further feedback from the public, the Minister of Internal Affairs arranged for a trial period of extended NZDT to be held from the second Sunday in October 1989 to the third Sunday in March 1990. The Minister invited the public to write to him with their views on the five-week extension.
The Daylight Time Order 1990 declared that NZDT would commence at 2:00am NZST on the first Sunday in October each year (changing to 3:00am NZDT) and would cease at 2:00am NZST on the third Sunday in March of the following year (changing from 3:00am NZDT).
Currently, there is a review on whether to extend daylight saving time by an additional three weeks. [1]
[edit] Standards
The standard for time in New Zealand is maintained by the Measurement Standards Laboratory, part of Industrial Research Limited. It is disseminated by various means, including time pips broadcast on Radio New Zealand, a speaking clock service, and Network Time Protocol.
[edit] References
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