SHOP TRADING HOURS (RUNDLE MALL TOURIST PRECINCT) AMENDMENT BILL

Introduction and First Reading

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (10:52): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Shop Trading Hours Act 1977. Read a first time.

Second Reading

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (10:53): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

As the member for Adelaide I rise today to speak to a bill that will support our CBD tourism hub and recognise the importance of Rundle Mall to South Australian tourism by designating Rundle Mall as a tourist precinct. In so many ways Rundle Mall already is a tourist precinct. It is visited by 23 million visitors a year; 85 per cent of tourists to the city visit the mall, and about 70 per cent of cruise ship passengers (45,000 in total in the 2009-10 cruise ship season) also visit the mall.

So, given the importance of Rundle Mall as a tourist destination, I am sure that all members here share my embarrassment when they realise that one of those cruise ships docked here and unloaded coaches full of tourists to an empty Rundle Mall. Why was Rundle Mall empty? It was empty because it was the Adelaide Cup public holiday. For many international tourists this was their introduction to, and lasting memory of, Adelaide.

The retail community has been demanding a partial relaxation of shop trading hours on a selection of public holidays for Rundle Mall for some years. At present, smaller shops (known as 'exempt shops') which are less than 200 square metres in the mall and throughout the state are able to open; however, without the larger stores in Rundle Mall also having the ability to open many smaller traders will not consider opening their businesses.

Although it is estimated that 60 per cent of businesses on the mall are small and therefore could open, not many of these are freestanding and most of them are connected to anchor stores such as the Myer Centre. For example, in the Myer Centre, without the Myer store opening the 50 other specialty shops would be unlikely to open, and this is compounded by the fact that there are also several other stores in the Myer Centre that are non-exempt. These include Rebel Sport, Dick Smith, Toyworld and Lincraft, to name a few.

The same could be said of the Adelaide Central Plaza: without David Jones opening it is unlikely that the 40 other specialty stores would open, and it would not be economically viable. This is the case for the City Cross. Without Harvey Norman or Amart opening the smaller specialty stores are also unlikely to open, and it goes on.

Most people when thinking of stores affected by the 200 square metre size limit think only of the major department stores of Myer, David Jones and Harris Scarfe. However, many others in this category are affected—JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Amart, Just Jeans, Target, Toys 'R' Us, Spotlight, Lincraft, Cheap as Chips, Rebel Sport, Dick Smith, Rivers, Tempt, Toy World, the Reject Shop and others.

Rundle Mall is home to over 700 retail stores, 200 service providers and 15 unique arcades and shopping centres. Without the pulling power of the larger stores, the small stores are less likely to open as it would not be economically viable. The larger stores are the ones that run the television and newspaper ads that inform us of the opening hours, and they have the sales. They send out the catalogues and flyers and, in doing so, promote the whole precinct.

This bill will allow all stores in the mall and surrounding arcades to open, thus creating a vibrant heart of our city that will stimulate spending and tourism to Adelaide. This will link our mall with the North Terrace cultural boulevard in which both the state government and the Adelaide City Council have invested a large amount of capital to improve and encourage people to visit our state icons, such as the South Australian Museum, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the State Library, the Mortlock Library, Ayres House Museum, Adelaide Festival Centre, the Migration Museum and the Botanical Gardens.

Similar legislation was introduced by the Hon. Robert Lawson MLC in the other place in 2000 which recognised Jetty Road, Glenelg, as a tourist precinct under the act. This legislation was passed and afforded Jetty Road, Glenelg, the opportunity to trade with greater flexibility of trading hours, thus realising that, as a tourist area, Jetty Road required flexibility to cater to tourists' needs.

At the time, the Jetty Road bill had the support of both parties, and I hope that this bill relating to Rundle Mall will be afforded the same consideration. The term 'tourist precinct' has no defined meaning, however, for the purposes of the Jetty Road proposal, it was taken to mean a discrete locality frequented by tourists which has substantial accommodation and other tourist facilities, restaurants and shops.

Based on these determinants, Rundle Mall easily surpasses the figures used in determining Jetty Road as a tourist precinct. To give members a few examples, as far as accommodation is concerned: Glenelg, 1,500 rooms; Adelaide, 4,725 rooms. In terms of visitors for events to Glenelg, 400,000; and Adelaide, 2.654 million. The number of businesses in Glenelg, 285; and Rundle Mall, 700 retail specialty stores. Rundle Mall also has 136 restaurants and cafés, delis and take-away food, and far more tourist attractions as already listed.

The mall would still be closed on the religious days, such as Christmas, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and on the morning of ANZAC Day. However, on public holidays, such as Labor Day on 4 October (coming up), as well as the Glendi Festival in Adelaide on 2 and 3 October, why not keep the tourists who are here—the country and interstate visitors—and have our city open so that they can stay on and shop?

The same could be said on Australia Day when we have over 25,000 people in the city for the procession and the concert in Elder Park. Why not open our city for all these people while they are here? What if it is hot and they need a hat, or they get sore feet and want some thongs, or it rains and they need an umbrella? Why not give them that opportunity to shop? The Adelaide Cup holiday is also at the end of the Adelaide Fringe which runs to 13 March and which has an estimated one million visitors, and WOMADelaide which also finishes on 13 March.

Why not, when we have a public holiday the day after, take advantage of that and have your shops open so that all the visitors who have come to Adelaide from interstate, the country and overseas can stay on and extend their holiday? This bill will allow for a carefully delineated precinct to be created, which is bordered by King William Street to the west, Grenfell Street to the south, North Terrace to the north and Pulteney Street to the east.

By making this a designated tourist precinct, Rundle Mall will develop a stronger connection with our refurbished North Terrace boulevard and our cultural tourist attractions as previously mentioned. As a business owner myself of 16 years, the opportunity to open when there are lots of customers around and increase your turnover is very desirable. Should owners not want to work on a public holiday, their casual staff may be happy to. Alternatively, they can determine to close or open only on some of the days; this is up to them.

Under my bill, shops cannot be forced to open on a public holiday. However, as a business owner, it is very unwise not to take advantage of such an opportunity. An example of this currently working is the Myer Centre. Currently, it is not compulsory to open on a Sunday. However, on speaking to the centre management, approximately 95 per cent of the stores do choose to open of their own will, and the same opportunity will be given to them on non-religious public holidays.

Tourism figures from December 2009 show we had 715,000 intrastate (country visitors) to Adelaide for the year, along with 1.347 million interstate visitors and 328,000 overseas visitors. By adding seven trading days on premium days that are accessible to full-time workers, interstate, overseas and country visitors, this is potentially worth $24.36 million to the South Australian economy.

I was a casual sales assistant in Myer Rundle Mall for six years while studying. I would have welcomed the extra hours, and I am confident that many of the casual staff would be happy to work weekends and take up the extra days work. Christmas casuals are currently being interviewed, so should this bill be passed, they would be kept on after their Christmas trading to make use of the public holidays. Full-time staff would still only have a 38-hour week. Under my bill they cannot be forced to work on public holidays. Should they choose to work on a public holiday, they can within their 38-hour week or negotiate for overtime.

After consulting with store managers of Myer, David Jones and Harris Scarfe, I feel confident that staff will not be coerced to work. I have been made aware that the current enterprise bargaining agreements negotiated by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association with major department stores have two parts. The existing or original EBA for those employed more than two years ago states that full-time staff are not required to work on public holidays. Part 2, for people employed in the last two years, does include the possibility of working public holidays, thus they are already aware of that possibility and their union negotiated on this basis. After speaking with several large employers, several are surveying their staff to see how many would be interested in working and they are discussing it with new casuals who are currently being taken on for the Christmas period.

With a high youth unemployment, more employment opportunities need to be made available for our youth. With a bipartisan approach, this may go a small way in reducing our youth unemployment. The retail industry is particularly suited to youth as their key trading times are outside traditional study hours. It is also fortuitous that the SDA is currently negotiating the enterprise bargaining agreements for the next three years, and therefore, if they want more security to protect existing full-time workers, they have the opportunity to do something about it now.

This bill is all about making Adelaide a vibrant city, a destination that appeals to intrastate, interstate and overseas visitors, a place which we can all be proud of and finally shake off our backwater status. This is not about removing people from their families. This is about choice: the choice to work and earn penalty rates; the choice to do business when the business owner chooses; and the choice to shop out of standard working hours. To protect the integrity of this bill and ensure that staff are not forced to work against their will, I am prepared to offer a sunset clause where we do a full review of the bill to see how it has affected all stakeholders.

As the member for Adelaide, I have been heavily lobbied to have Rundle Mall made a designated tourist zone. I have consulted widely and extensively with all ages both from within and outside my electorate. I have met with small business owners, store managers of large retailers, the Tourism Industry Council, city workers, shoppers and sales assistants. I believe this bill provides a balanced approach for invigorating the heart of our city whilst protecting staff and shop owners. Some of the people I have consulted with include the South Australian Tourism Industry Council, the Adelaide City Council, the Rundle Mall Management Authority, the Storemen and Packers ex-union officer, Myer, David Jones, Harris Scarfe, Business SA, State Retailers Association, Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association. We have thousands of signatures of support for this bill on a petition that will be submitted to parliament shortly.

During debate in this house on Tuesday, the member for Davenport also made the point in regard to the gambling legislation that it is currently okay for hotels and casinos to trade how they like and have their staff work all hours, even though these are known places of harm, yet we restrict shopping which has no harmful effects.

The Adelaide City Council's submission in 2006 'For the review of shop trading hours legislation in South Australia' states:

Similarly, from a tourist point of view, the city must be an open and lively shopfront to the state that showcases and provides access to all the attractions of the state. The city can no longer afford to remain closed on public holidays or for extended periods depending on those days and where those days fall. More importantly, tourists and consumers should not have to put up with a city that is closed, particularly during periods where they have time to shop at their leisure. In short, the notion that a city remains closed at peak trading and holiday periods no longer seems a sustainable position. It is clearly time to move on.

In closing, this bill seeks to take advantage of the visitors that are here for festivals on public holidays by opening Rundle Mall. It seeks to assist to reduce youth unemployment, to provide greater links between our North Terrace cultural boulevard, and Rundle Mall and, most importantly, this bill is about formally and deservedly recognising Rundle Mall as a tourist asset to Adelaide and South Australia as a whole.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mrs Geraghty.