MARK BLUMSKY (National) : Does it not show the colour and magic of the mix of Parliament when, in relation to the bill we have just been listening to, this member has received in the order of 7,860 emails and the debate has taken many, many days, yet, in relation to the bill we are about to debate, the member has had two emails and this will go to regulation. The interesting part about that comment is that this bill is just as important to a significant group of people as the bill we have just been debating. The tragedy of that fact is that it would have been nice had this bill gone through the House in time for the Easter that is now long gone. But that was not to be. I hope that the House in its wisdom can make sure that we do not have to have this debate ever again, and will allow those who want to, to open on Easter Sunday and, if allowed, on Good Friday.

I am delighted to stand and speak in support of Jacqui Dean’s member’s bill on Easter Sunday trading. One of the reasons I am very pleased to have the opportunity for this call is that I am probably one of the few true retailers in Parliament. I have been in retailing now since I was 13—just over 30 years. I am sure it is just a bit over 30 years because I started in retail at the age of 13 and am still in it. So I have been in the position of having to leave my door shut when there were people outside that door wanting to come in on Easter Sunday and Good Friday to spend money.

As a small-business owner I can assure members that retailers do work 24/7—or it certainly jolly well feels as if they work 24/7—because when it is their own businesses they work hard. There are many, many people out there who on Easter Sunday and Good Friday actually have money in their wallets and would like to spend it. I must admit that when we keep our doors shut it does guarantee a cleaner shop and it does guarantee tidier shelves. I mean, customers can be a blasted nuisance because they actually do mess up the shop, so keeping our doors shut, in effect, makes a difference in that way, but I can assure members that it makes a horrible difference to the level of turnover. That is the reason for this bill. If people are out there wanting to shop, and if people are out there wanting to spend their money, then owners who want to take that money, and want to open, should be allowed that opportunity, because that is a true win-win.

Speaking to this bill on this particular subject—opening on days currently prohibited—takes me right back to my mayoralty. I stood for the mayoralty of Wellington in 1995 on a platform of four things, and one of those four was, in fact, opening in Wellington on Sundays. In 1995 Wellington City was shut on Sunday. Everyone drove to Queensgate Mall in their thousands. I can assure members now that owning three shoe shops in the City of Wellington and being shut on a Sunday, and having no shoe shops in Queensgate, really did get up my wick. So I stood for the mayoralty on the platform of free parking and opening our stores on Sunday. I was paying rent for 7 days a week. I was paying rent for 52 weeks of the year. I got no respite on my rental. I had no rebate coming my way if my doors were shut or were made to be shut. I should have had that right to open and accept customers.

I go back to the first Sunday I opened. I asked my staff: “Who wants to work?”. Those who said: “Me, me, me!”, got to work on the Sunday, and those who said “No, thanks.”, did not.

Hon Lianne Dalziel: What was the pay rate?

MARK BLUMSKY: Actually, it was double time in those days. They loved it, too. I can tell members that if we want to keep good staff, we have to pay them good money. If someone did not want to work on the Sunday, that person did not have to. If we needed staff, we advertised for staff to work on Sunday, and those who wanted to work on Sunday applied for the positions. All I had to do was train them, and that was a pleasure. The reason for training staff is that there is no point in employing staff in a shop if they do not want to be there. Guess what? If they do not want to be there, they do not serve particularly well. When we have a retail business, we need staff to serve well because that is what it is all about. The shops need to have good service, and they need their staff to be serving very well. There is no point employing staff who do not deliver. Overseas they can employ staff who do not want to be working there, because at the end of the day so many thousands of millions of people are walking past on the street that it does not make a bit of difference. But in New Zealand we do not have enough people. We need people to come back into our stores, so we must have staff working there. If they do not want to work there, we do not want them.

Jacqui Dean’s bill does not force shops to open if they do not want to. Jacqui Dean’s bill does not force staff to work if they do not want to. But the bill does give owners the opportunity to open if they want to, and it does give staff the opportunity to work if they want to. Retailers and many of those who work in tourist hubs are owner-operators, and the stores are their life. I can assure members now that if a person walking past wants to stop and partake of the store’s selection, and leave behind some of the contents of his or her wallet, then why should the owner of that store not be in a position to take some of that money? There is a very significant understanding in retail, learnt from the school of life: if a store is closed on one day, the turnover is not doubled on the next day.

This Parliament must sort out this Easter Sunday trading issue, once and for all, in the next couple of days, otherwise the issue will keep hounding this establishment as it has hounded previous Parliaments. Why should this Parliament sort it out, once and for all? Because the present trading rules around Easter are just not fair, and we do know that. To allow Queenstown to open but not Wānaka, and to allow Taupō to open but not the surrounding areas, is just not fair. It is bad legislation, and it needs to change. If Jacqui Dean’s bill unfortunately fails, then we must make sure that Steve Chadwick’s Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Easter Trading) Amendment Bill, the next member’s bill before the House, passes. We must give retailers the opportunity they need and deserve.

In my last 2 minutes I will take the opportunity to acknowledge those who work in retail stores. Many, many owners value their staff. Many, many owners need their staff, and have a wonderful working relationship with them. When we have good staff, we sure as heck want to keep them. The last thing we will do is take advantage of them. There are hundreds of thousands of people, of all ages and colours, working in retail every single day, and thank God they do. Many of them do an outstanding job, because I can tell members that customers can be hard work. Customers can be tough, and they can be rude. Luckily, most of them are not too bad. I take this chance to thank those who work in retail; it is a profession to be proud of. It provides a wonderful opportunity to meet people and to learn a lot about business. Those who work in retail should be proud to be part of an exciting profession.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank both Jacqui Dean and Steve Chadwick for bringing their bills to the House, so that this issue can be settled, and so that some peace of mind can be given to those retailers who want to open during Easter.