Brisbane mayor reignites Queensland daylight saving debate

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has reignited the long-running daylight saving debate, backing a renewed push for a new referendum on the issue for Queenslanders.

The rest of the east coast has moved its clocks forward, while Queensland remains an hour behind. Mr Schrinner wants to know whether residents would support changing that.

His argument draws on the city's early-rising habits. Figures cited in the report show about 13 per cent of Queenslanders are up before 5am, and about two thirds are awake before 6am every day. Mr Schrinner has pointed to this "dawn economy" as a reason to ask whether moving the clocks forward could help.

He has opened a consultation period with local businesses and residents to gather views on creating a proper plan for the dawn economy. Many cafes in the city already open from 5am each day.

Reporting from Southbank, 7NEWS reporter Anna McGraw said she personally favoured daylight saving so Queensland would be in step with the other states. She noted, however, that Queenslanders have strongly opposed the idea in the past, so it remains to be seen how the community responds.

The consultation is intended to test public opinion. No referendum has been scheduled, and the report did not outline a timeline for the feedback process.