SHOP TRADING HOURS

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:02): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the City of Adelaide a question about shop trading hours in Rundle Mall.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: Yesterday, 28 September, the Capital City Committee presented an annual report to the House of Assembly. The minister is fully aware of this report, because the minister is on the committee. On page 3 of the document it listed a number of functions of the Capital City Committee. One of them is to promote growth of the City of Adelaide as a primary focus for the cultural, educational, tourism, retail and commercial activities of South Australia. On 16 September the member for Adelaide in another place spoke passionately about the importance of Rundle Mall as a tourist destination.

The Rundle Mall Management Authority also believes Rundle Mall must be designed as a tourist precinct, and it outlined its key arguments in expanding the shop trading hours. Studies have shown that Rundle Mall is home to over 700 retail stores, 200 service providers and 15 unique arcades and shopping centres. It accommodates about 23 million visitors every year, and 85 per cent of Adelaide's tourists visit Rundle Mall and generates $800 million in annual sales.

As the Minister for the City of Adelaide what are the minister's views on opening Rundle Mall on non-religious public holidays and, with the Rundle Mall Management Authority outlining positive economic benefits to the tourism and retail sector, will she formally recognise Rundle Mall as one of Adelaide's main tourist precincts and, if so, would she approve the extension of shop trading hours in Rundle Mall?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (15:02): I will take the question as the minister responsible for shopping hours, which comes under the industrial relations portfolio. I have had some discussions with Theo Maras, who is the new chairman of the mall authority. I believe that there was an announcement recently. Mr Maras as a business leader has been very successful in what his commercial activities have done to open up the eastern end of Rundle Street. Mr Maras suggested looking at changing the hours of operation of Rundle Mall, and there has been some publicity given to this recently. Most of the shops in the mall currently close at 6 o'clock, but under the shopping hours regime it is possible for those shops to open to as late as 9pm and still comply with current laws.

Very few shops do that, but I think what the mall authority is seeking to do, by arrangement with some of the traders, is to differentiate their hours in the mall—but within the current operating hours—to create perhaps a different product. I think it has been suggested that they open until 7pm, and the mall can do that under the current shopping hours. I think it would be a good idea if they were able to create a different market for the mall in relation to other parts of Adelaide, and if it encourages people who work in the city to stay later in the city on nights other than the usual Friday late shopping that is a good thing.

The government's position has not changed in relation to shopping hours and public holidays. Back in 2003 this government deregulated shopping hours to a significant extent, and I think there are now only 11 days—Christmas Day, Good Friday and the other public holidays—on which shops cannot open. This government introduced Sunday shopping and, as I said, changed the legislation to enable shops to remain open up to 9pm. So there has been significant relaxation; it is just 11 days of the year, on public holidays, and the government does not propose to change that. However, I would certainly encourage the mall to seek out a unique market, as I am sure my colleague the Minister for the City of Adelaide would, in terms of encouraging business within the CBD.

On a related matter, one of the issues Mr Maras raised with me is that many of the shops within the mall are two or three storeys but most of the area above the ground floor is vacant. Mr Maras raised with me a number of development issues, which are factors that make it difficult to fully utilise those buildings for residential or other purposes but, clearly, if more people lived within the CBD it would reinvigorate the city. Nothing would be better in this regard than encouraging more people to live in the city, and what this government is seeking to do with its 30-year plan—and we talked about it earlier today with Islington—is encourage people to live above retail areas.

Apparently there are reasons that does not happen to any significant extent at the moment in areas such as the mall—there are access and other development controls, and a whole lot of good reasons historically—but these are matters on which, as planning minister, I am happy to work with the mall to address, get more people living in the city and make the mall more vibrant. In the short term, I wish the mall every success in extending its shopping hours within the currently permitted hours, outside public holidays. Let us see how that works.