Connell Brian: Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act (Abolition of Restrictions) Amendment Bill — Consideration of Report of Commerce Committee 
Connell Brian: Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act (Abolition of Restrictions) Amendment Bill — Consideration of Report of Commerce Committee 
[Volume:616;Page:11975] 
BRIAN CONNELL (National—Rakaia) 
: 
 As Mr Hide has pointed out the legislative path of this bill to the House has been rather arduous. I am pleased now that it has found its way here to the House this evening for serious consideration—after I think the 4 or 5 years that it has been in progress of being debated and formulated. It is clearly an emotional issue. It is one of those pieces of legislation where “You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.” 
I thought it would be useful and I take Mr Peck’s point really to step the House through some of the machinations that members of the Commerce Committee went through in trying to arrive at a sensible recommendation. Throughout the select committee stage 34 written submissions were received and broadly 50 percent of those submissions were in favour and 50 percent were opposed. Of those supporting deregulation the most frequently mentioned was the need to respond to local commercial and tourist demand and address anomalies in the Act that allows some areas to trade and some areas not to trade. This I believe is a confusing point that needs some clarification. Submissions also referred to the employers’ right to open when they chose. Easter Sunday is not a public holiday and its significance is far greater for some members of the community than others. I think members of the House will agree that these are all very cogent arguments. 
Those opposed to deregulation on the other hand all supported the retention of Easter Sunday as a restricted trading day. All favoured the restrictions for Christmas Day Good Friday and the morning of Anzac Day also. Those against deregulation most often cited religious reasons and time off with families as to why they were opposed. Others simply felt that there were enough working days and that the commercial argument for another day just was not justified. I think members of the House will agree that these also are very cogent arguments. 
Members of the select committee weighed these issues very carefully and finally we reached a position of recommending Easter Sunday trading. I have to say that I personally found this decision a very difficult one to make. I admit that I always found Easter Sunday to be a special day of significance in my case because it is a day to spend with family but I also respect that for others it is a very significant religious day. But on balance I decided that Easter Sunday trading was something I should support really because I believe that that is the only way we will make progress. 
I also decided there were many anomalies in the existing bill and that businesses really deserve an even playing field. In making the recommendation I and I think other members of the select committee were influenced somewhat by the report entitled  
Shop Trading Hours: Proposals for a Way Forward 
. It contains options for Easter Sunday trading that I found compelling especially the emphasis on the need for balanced social community commercial and employee interests to be taken into consideration. 
There also exists a widespread confusion amongst the public as to what shops are open and what shops are not and I think this issue needs to be resolved. The public are very demanding and no more demanding than when it comes to the supply of fresh food. Trading conditions mean that supermarkets in particular find the current legislation and current restrictions very difficult. They encounter great difficulty and suffer considerable cost from the imposition of having to close on Good Friday reopen on Saturday and close again on Easter Sunday. Our demand for fresh food and nothing less makes it difficult for supermarkets to meet our demands without having to throw out unsold produce at considerable cost. Purchasing produce on a Thursday and trying to retail it as fresh on a Monday just does not rub. So I was persuaded that we had to ease the passage of this legislation through the House for businesses like supermarkets and their ilk. 
I have to say though to members of the House that I do draw the line at Christmas Day and Good Friday. I have conceded somewhat to allow progress to ease the passage of this bill on Easter Sunday trading but I do foreshadow that I see that this is the end of the line and I will not be moved further. 
Having recommended trading on Easter Sunday the select committee moved to ensure that employees’ and shop owners’ and occupiers’ protections were in place. Mr Peck picked these up and I think he was right to do so. This was something that I think the general public and workers will have a legitimate concern about. I want to make it clear that under this legislation employees do not have to work on Easter Sunday if they do not want to and there will be no repercussions—absolutely no repercussions—but shop owners and occupiers may engage or employ another person to work in their place on that day only or part thereof. I think that is a reasonable and sensible compromise. 
The decision I have reached reflects I believe a fair balance between all the conflicting views that were received by the select committee. That the bill deregulates shop trading hours around Easter Sunday is clear but in my view it protects Christmas Day and Good Friday and protects the interests of those who do not want to work or be involved in those days. So I urge members to consider this legislation with an open mind and if they can do their own search have a look at some of the submissions that were put to the select committee and speak to select committee members I think they will come to a conclusion whereby they too can support the passage of this legislation.