Shop Trading Hours

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (15:14): Supplementary question arising from the answer: can the Treasurer confirm that, by removing this point of difference—that regional communities can open currently and the metropolitan area can't—regional communities will not be impacted, and what modelling you are basing that on?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:14): The modelling I use is common sense. With the greatest respect in the world, when I am living on the plains in Adelaide and I want to go shopping on a Sunday morning for some milk or some bread, I am not going to be choosing whether or not I am going to go to Mount Gambier or to the local, suburban supermarket. Common sense tells me that if I have the choice between driving to Mount Gambier to get my milk and bread or getting it from a local supermarket in suburban Adelaide, I will choose the suburban supermarket. I am not going to be mulling over in my own mind, 'Shall I drive four hours and 20 minutes to Mount Gambier to go to a supermarket or should I stay here in Adelaide?'

I will make a common-sense judgement. I don't have to do modelling in relation to my consumer choices. It’s just common sense, and if members of the Labor Party don't have common sense then it's no wonder they are in opposition. That's the sort of logic they are putting before the house in terms of defending the indefensible, and the indefensible—their position, we know—is whatever the shoppies union says they will do and they are required to follow. For a brief period of time, the Leader of the Opposition in another place said—in a brain explosion, I suspect—'I might even think about nine to 11 on a Sunday morning.' I am sure he got a phone call from the shoppies union saying, 'Peter, what did you just say?'

The PRESIDENT: Refer to the member by his proper title.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The shoppies union wouldn't have been saying, 'Member for Croydon', they would have been saying, 'Peter, mate, what did you just say on television? Did you just say, contrary to what the shoppies union dictates require of you, that you might be prepared to look at nine to 11 on a Sunday morning?' He would have said, 'Oops, okay, I'll put it into reverse gear. That's off the table.'

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Yes, exactly. 'How high do you want me to jump?' he would have said to the shoppies union. 'How high do you want me to jump?' in relation to shop trading legislation. So it is quite clear who is calling the shots in the Labor Party. The shoppies union gets on the phone to the Leader of the Opposition in another place and he has got five reverse gears rather than five forward gears. Most people have five forward and one reverse, but the Leader of the Opposition has five reverse gears, from first to overdrive, and he was in overdrive within about 24 hours. He reversed as quickly as you could imagine. He had been told by the shoppies union, 'You're not even going to be contemplating that. If you do, preselection, funding', all of those particular controls that the shoppies union have in relation to the Labor Party—we have seen it for decades and we will continue to see it for decades.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!