the public to write to him with their views on the five-week extension. The Daylight Time Order 1990 declared that NZDT would run from 02:00 NZST on the first Sunday in October to 03:00 NZDT on the third Sunday in March. On 30 April 2007 the government announced that it had extended the daylight saving period from 24 to 27 weeks. From September 2007, daylight saving is now observed from the last Sunday in September until the first Sunday in April. From 30 April 2007, DST begins at 02:00 NZST on the last Sunday in September each year, and ends at 03:00 NZDT (or 02:00 NZST as defined in the 1974 Act) on the first Sunday in April. New Zealand time, including DST, is used by several Antarctic bases that are supplied from New Zealand. This results in the oddity that the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station sets its clocks an hour further ahead during the southern summer, when the sun is constantly above the horizon, than in the southern winter, when the sun is constantly below the horizon. The extreme geographic position of the base means that no possible adjustment of the daily activity cycle can have any effect on the amount of sunlight received during those activities. However, the arrangement presumably makes real time communications with New Zealand more practical, particularly in dealing with offices. The other countries in the Realm of New Zealand – Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau – do not maintain DST. Two of them are on the other side of the International Date Line and have 22–24 hours time difference to New Zealand. The following table lists near future starting and ending dates of daylight saving time in the main islands of New Zealand: Standards New Zealand standard time is maintained by the Measurement Standards Laboratory (MSL), part of New Zealand Government. New Zealand standard time is based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is kept within 200 nanoseconds of the international atomic time scale maintained by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris. It is disseminated by various means, including time pips broadcast on Radio New Zealand, speaking clock and Network Time Protocol. Dependencies and associated states There are two associated states of New Zealand in the Pacific Ocean, both on the other side of the International Date Line: The Cook Islands are in the UTC−10:00 time zone or Military W (Whiskey)