Street Maryan: Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Easter Trading)Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Street Maryan: Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Easter Trading)Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:639;Page:9314] 
MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 I rise to take a call on the Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Easter Trading) Amendment Bill. The first thing I wish to do is to pay tribute to my colleague Steve Chadwick. This bill started life as a local bill introduced by Steve Chadwick who was bringing the concerns of her local community to Parliament. It was an effort on behalf of the local authority and the retailers in Rotorua that they be allowed to trade on Easter Sunday as those in other parts of the country were particularly those in areas with a tourist focus. 
I commend Steve for her efforts in getting this bill into the House and for succeeding in bringing it forward on behalf of Rotorua; that is what she has been doing. Along the way the bill has morphed into a member’s bill. Such bills were formerly known as private member’s bills but are now known as member’s bills. It needs to be recognised that the Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Easter Trading) Amendment Bill started life as a local bill and that Steve Chadwick was representing her community in bringing it forward. 
I want to pick up a couple of points from the previous speaker Jacqui Dean. First of all I recognise that in large measure—and this refers also to the Rt Hon Winston Peters’ contribution earlier—the law surrounding retailing on public holidays or over the Easter break is a dog’s breakfast. I wish that this bill as proposed by my colleague could fix it. I suspect that it will not and that it will contribute to another layer of complexity. 
I want to say one thing: I also—like Peter Brown who spoke before me—wish to promote at the appropriate time in the Committee stage an amendment in a Supplementary Order Paper that will do something that was discussed but not passed by the Commerce Committee. I would like to see those workers who are covered by the operation of this bill—that is those who agree to work on Easter Sunday—for the purposes of employment terms and conditions treated as if Easter Sunday were a public holiday. Easter Sunday is not a public holiday. The public labour under the misapprehension that Easter Sunday is a public holiday; in fact it is not. It is not one of the nine or 11 public holidays we get. 
In the Supplementary Order Paper that I wish to promote Easter Sunday would be treated as if it were a public holiday for those retail workers and for those who provide provisions—in other words those who distribute goods to those retail outlets that open on Easter Sunday. The legislation would also cover distribution workers in that respect. This means that by treating Easter Sunday as if it were a public holiday all of those employees would be entitled to time and a half plus a day in lieu in accordance with the Holidays Act 2003. That would then test whether retailers really thought it was worth their while to open on Easter Sunday. 
We had numerous representations at the Commerce Committee from retailers that it would be worth their while to open on Easter Sunday. In fact it was imperative that they open and be able to compete with other shops down the road—quite literally in one case. Not far from the area that Jacqui Dean spoke about a moment ago one retailer a little way out of Cromwell was not allowed to open on Easter Sunday and another one a bit further down the road was allowed to open because of the rules as they stand at the moment. The Supplementary Order Paper would really test whether retailers were serious about the gains that are to be made for them in being open on Easter Sunday. 
I want to make one further comment: to say that workers will have a choice is true in letter but not in fact. Frequently these people are working in very small workplaces they work in very close proximity to their employer and they work with teams whom they feel they would let down if they were not to work and not to take their rostered day on because they wanted to exercise their right not to work on Easter Sunday. Exercising that right is much easier said than done—that is something we cannot lose sight of. I want my Supplementary Order Paper to give workers additional protection and to give entitlements to people in this sector that they would not otherwise get. Thank you Madam Speaker. I share my time.