Chadwick Steve: Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Easter Trading)  Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Chadwick Steve: Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Easter Trading)  Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:631;Page:3612] 
STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua) 
: 
 I have been pleased to hear the range of issues before the House tonight and I believe that it is reflective of the debate we have had in the House at previous times. I think that getting the two bills before the Commerce Committee will be of great interest and will give us a more robust bill. As a result of the submission process we may even think of other ideas that we have not had a chance to consider before. I entirely trust the Commerce Committee to come up with something to report back to the House for the Committee stage that will be even better than both our local bill—which I must say was drafted by the Rotorua District Council legal division after great consideration of the debate that had gone on at the Rotorua District Council—and Jacqui Dean’s bill. 
This has been a very interesting process with both bills being pulled out because it has shown that we are learning about the MMP environment. We are learning issue by issue to work on issues that bring people together instead of taking traditional party lines. It is even interesting to note that my colleagues are not all in agreement with this bill—and I respect their right to hold their individual views. I just think that the issue is the absurdity of the way Easter trading has been crafted since 1977. That issue—and the principle—has caused great frustration and grief in places like Wanaka Rotorua and Tauranga and for the sake of that very principle we want to see it sorted out. 
The petition we are running talks about the anomalous schedule of exemptions and the geographic variances. We asked only for Parliament to consider a mechanism to get that sorted. I believe that with these two bills that mechanism can now be sorted. 
To Hone Harawira of the Maori Party I say I do believe that Matariki probably will be a public holiday in this country one day and perhaps that will happen on the demise of the Queen’s Birthday holiday. We need to consider these things and be flexible over time. That is the opportunity we have in bringing these issues to the House. 
I do not see the necessary support for restrictions on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We were very careful about following research and following the surveys that we conducted which were not hugely subscribed to. It tended to be the business community that responded because they are the most affected. I always feel that one has the personal right to not go shopping. I do not actually go shopping on Easter Sunday. If anyone wants to ke te pai—they can go shopping—but I choose to spend the day with my family just like Gordon Copeland. I do not see that as an erosion of anything but that is just my personal view. 
I was very cognisant of a Green Party amendment that I want to acknowledge came from Rod Donald. It was interesting to hear Sue Bradford say tonight that she was concerned about worker protections. It was Rod Donald’s amendment on garden centres in relation to Rodney Hide’s bill that I saw as quite inspirational. So it is interesting to hear the Greens saying that the workers are not protected adequately by this Rotorua District Council bill. 
Everybody at Rotorua is dying to know the result of the count tonight and I hope we have some good news for them. I trust the Commerce Committee to come back with something even more robust and what is more enduring so that we do not have to visit this issue again.