Shop Trading Hours

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:49): My question is to the Leader of the Government, the Treasurer. What health grounds was the extension of the unrestricted trading hours for retail businesses made upon?

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: Health grounds, yes. You know, public health grounds.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:50): I think that is self-evident from the statements I have made right from the word go, that the public health grounds were primarily about social distancing. Some of the appalling scenes we saw in the early days and weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, when hundreds of people massed in aisles of supermarkets fighting over goods on the shelves, certainly would have caused alarm to anyone concerned about social distancing and prevention of the spread of COVID-19.

It was on that basis that the government, listening to the public health advice, initially instituted the first of the 30-day exemptions that we have continued to offer, to allow supermarkets in particular to better control the number of customers coming into their stores. I am sure the honourable member would be familiar that a number of the supermarkets continue to control the number of customers within their stores.

Some of us had to queue in queues up to 100 metres long as we waited to get into our favourite supermarket, appropriately socially distanced, as people counted the number of people within their store at a particular time. In other supermarkets, they have had one-way aisles in terms of instituting traffic movements within those particular stores. These are all sensible precautions in relation to preventing the spread of COVID-19.

For each subsequent decision that I have taken as the responsible minister I have sought public health advice from SA Health, and I have indicated publicly that as soon as the advice that I receive indicates that it is no longer required then I won't be instituting the 30-day rolling exemptions. I think there is probably at least one potential position in the decision-making process where we come to the end of September, which is the end of the current legislative arrangements we have made on a whole range of other decisions as it relates to COVID-19, but certainly until then I will continue to take advice from public health senior officers within SA Health.

I was also minded that I received very helpful advice from the Hon. Mr Pangallo, who did actually publicly urge me to adopt this particular position and, when I first did so, he congratulated me, in a rare example of congratulating the Treasurer, on picking up his idea in the first instance to do so. Given the Hon. Mr Pangallo's strong views on shop trading, I welcomed his intervention and public exhortation on me to adopt his position in relation to this particular issue.

I will continue to take public health advice, principally in relation to social distancing and the need to regulate the number of customers at any particular point in time. Clearly, the longer the hours that are available the greater the capacity for those stores to allow people to shop over extended periods, if they so choose, in relation to accessing the goods they need to access.