Wilson Margaret: Rotorua District (Easter Sunday Shop Trading) Bill — Second Reading 
Wilson Margaret: Rotorua District (Easter Sunday Shop Trading) Bill — Second Reading 
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Hon MARGARET WILSON (Attorney-General) 
: 
 I speak in support of the bill. I also support your relooking at the ruling Mr Speaker because as my colleague Steve Chadwick said we did seek advice from the Clerk to see whether we could extend her bill to include the Tauranga - Mount Maunganui area. The advice we were given was that it was outside the scope of the bill which is your initial ruling here. But I would very much appreciate if it could be looked at again. 
The reason I rise to support the bill is simply that it is unfair that Rotorua was inadvertently excluded from those cities that were exempted when the legislation originally went through. It has been my primary motivation for also promoting Mount Maunganui and Tauranga which suffered the same fate. Those two areas were in fact in the original legislation. For some reason someone was not keeping an eye on the ball last time and that meant that they were excluded. That has been grossly unfair to small-business people particularly in Mount Maunganui who have had to endure this for a long period of time. It seemed to me that very little was done right through the 1990s. It happened in 1990 and nothing was done to address it. I have tried several times but as we know this is a conscience issue and we are bound by the consciences of this House. I have consistently voted for Easter Sunday trading. I do not agree with trading on Christmas Day or Good Friday and I have made that quite clear. I recently met retailers in Mount Maunganui to discuss this issue. The question was raised with me as to why the local member for Tauranga did not do the same thing as the local member for Rotorua and promote the bill that would in fact have allowed this to happen now. That is a simple point—it can be done. 
I support the New Zealand First member’s bill that is in the ballot but one does not have to rely on the ballot when one is the local member. I do. If I were the local member then there would be a bill in this House for us to determine. That is a fact. I would have followed the example of my colleague Steve Chadwick instead of waiting for decades as Winston Peters has to get around to doing something. He has the privilege to represent those people and what does he do? He says: “Hello I’m going to wait for a ballot. I’m not going to take responsibility as a local member and promote a bill because some people may not vote for me as they may not like it.” That is the real reason. I suggest that the member goes to Mount Maunganui has a talk to the retailers and explains to them that I have been trying to keep the issue alive for them while the local member gets around to doing his job. As I said we are having a working-group. I am asking the working-group to meet those retailers in Mount Maunganui preferably on Easter Sunday—when they will find that nothing is open and they will not be able to get a drink a cup of coffee or anything to eat—so they can explain the circumstances they are in. Those businesses are not big businesses; they are people whose livelihood is dependent on taking that opportunity when other New Zealanders come into their town to enjoy that break. I have been very respectful of the fact that there have been religious objections to opening shops at that time. Personally I can understand that as far as Christmas Day and Good Friday are concerned. However my feeling is that because a lot of activities take place on Easter Sunday and because that religious festival is one of celebration I am therefore prepared to support opening on that day. 
The opening provisions that we have put forward do not require people to open. Most of the shops that we are talking about certainly in the Mount Maunganui area are owner-operated or they have family who come in and assist. Why should they be denied the opportunity to earn a living and why should the visitors who come into our beautiful city be denied the opportunity to have a cup of coffee lunch or dinner in that town? I support this measure. It is unfair that those areas that once could do this activity were excluded from doing it for no good reason at all except that it was an oversight. It is I think an outrage that we are nearly 13 years on since that happened and that no one has really been able to find a solution to help those people in Rotorua and the Mount—except for my colleague Steve Chadwick. She has had the courage to listen to her community and she has put forward a bill which is the prerogative of the person who has the privilege to represent the people in their electorate. I support the bill.