STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua)
: The Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Easter Trading) Amendment Bill, which I was debating 2 weeks ago, was actually built as a result of surveys from the Retailers Association that were carried out in 2002 and 2005. The survey in 2002 showed that only 26 percent of Rotorua wanted Easter Sunday trading, but the July 2005 survey showed a 76 percent response in Rotorua in favour of Easter Sunday trading.
The Rotorua Chamber of Commerce established a focus group after 52 retailers were prosecuted in 2005 when they joined forces and supported an event called Jambalaya. This focus group comprised the chamber of commerce, the Rotorua District Council, Ready to Retail, and myself. We undertook a survey of 125 respondents, 70 percent of which wanted to have the choice whether to open on Easter Sunday. The
Daily Post, our local newspaper, joined the chamber of commerce in coordinating a petition to
Parliament endorsing the amendment to current legislation, and 3,136 signatures were received and presented in June 2006.
At the Local Government New Zealand conference in July 2005—so it is some surprise that the Auckland City Council does not know about this bill—a remit was passed unanimously in support of an amendment to the Shop Trading Hours Act to empower local authorities to use a special consultative process to determine local authority and population authority for Easter Sunday trading. This focus group formulated the focus of this bill, which is a Rotorua District Council bill that I am sponsoring and we are debating today.
The bill was developed after the Shop Trading Hours Working Group was established by the Hon Margaret Wilson in 2003 in an attempt to find a way forward for the whole of the country. The group then comprised representation from the Retailers Association, Local Government New Zealand, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, and Tourism New Zealand. The attempts of the Northern Distribution Union to destabilise this initiative were remarkably absent in 2003, which shows that the union movement is now much stronger and better organised. The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions was part of the working group, and it had a pragmatic approach at that stage. It recommended two options: removing Easter trading as a restricted day, or empowering local authorities to exempt areas omitted from the 1990 Act, such as Rotorua. This bill reflects the second option. It will not add to the 3½ days, as many members have suggested. It allows areas that were denied the choice to trade to do so only after communities have been consulted under the special consultative procedure in Part 6 of the Local Government Act, and it gives the areas that were left out in 1990 the chance to join the 15 areas that were granted an exemption.
The worker protections were significantly strengthened after the Commerce Committee’s scrutiny, and I thank the committee members for that. Reasonable notice of work on Easter Sunday must be given, no worker can be coerced into working, and every worker will have the freedom to choose whether they want to work. Any worker who chooses not to work cannot be discriminated against, and will be supported by the Employment Relations Act. I think that is a good thing.
I remind Green Party members that initial worker protections were requested by Green MP the late Rod Donald when we brought in the garden centres exemption in 2001. The Rotorua focus group has no problem with these worker-strengthened provisions. In fact, I go further to say we would not be concerned if there were to be a change in the status of Easter Sunday.
In conclusion, I urge members to give their considered support for this bill. This bill is
Rotorua’s second attempt to create a level playing field with those traders who are already open on Easter Sunday. It is not a case of further liberalisation. The bill has strong support for the devolution of decision making to councils to allow Easter Sunday trading as directed by Local Government New Zealand and the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce. The cost of consultation will not be increased, as the question of trading will be included in the annual planning process, along with other issues such as rates, services, and levels of investment. The cost to business will not be increased. Costs needed to cover employee working rates will be passed on to the consumer. Rotorua also respects those opposed to trading on Sunday.
I conclude by stating that with the passing of this bill the initial bizarre irregularities created by poor law in 1990 will once and for all be fixed to a level playing field on Easter Sunday. It will not add to the creep of liberalisation, for that is not the purpose of this bill. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
