Shop Trading Hours

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:04): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector. Can the minister tell the council about extended shop trading in the CBD during the Fringe and Gather Round?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:04): I thank the honourable member for a question about shop trading hours, and we will touch on the very significant reforms we were able to make that previous Liberal governments haven't been able to make through overextending their blind ideology in these sorts of areas.

The Adelaide Fringe, the Adelaide Festival and the upcoming Gather Round are three landmark events in South Australia which bring thousands of tourists to our city and millions of dollars to local trade and local businesses. The government has been very pleased to grant shop trading exemptions to allow extended trading hours in the city on Saturdays during the Fringe and during Gather Round. These exemptions follow very collaborative discussions between key industry stakeholders such as the Adelaide Economic Development Agency and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, to name two leaders for the respective different groups that have views in this area.

Under these shop trading hours exemptions, shops in the Adelaide CBD will be allowed to trade to 6pm on the Saturdays 17 February, 24 February, 2 March, 9 March and 16 March. We know that trading exemptions are important for cultural events like this and can give a boost to local businesses. When similar exemptions were granted last year under groundbreaking legislation that allowed for an orderly process for these exemptions to be applied for and granted, we saw foot traffic in Rundle Mall, I am advised, increase by an average of over 100 per cent during extended trading hours compared with the previous year, when shops shut at 5pm. We hope that this year's exemptions will see a similar boost for the local economy and provide important support for local businesses as well as meeting the needs of tourists visiting our state.

It is important to reflect that this is an example of exactly how the reforms to the shop trading hours were intended. We saw the approach taken by the former government, when the then Treasurer and industrial relations minister the Hon. Rob Lucas issued trading exemptions which were simply used as a weapon to defeat the intent of the legislation that had struck a balance that all other members of this parliament had agreed with in relation to shop trading hours in this state.

The exemptions that were provided under the previous government attempted to strip away the workers' right to take things like a break on public holidays with zero consultation. In response to the exemptions that were made, this government had previously offered shop trading reform for things like extra trading hours on a Sunday, but they were dismissed by the former government, so it led to no reform whatsoever.

In the new shop trading hours legislation, consultation is required to ensure there is adequate discussion on these issues between government and industry parties like businesses and the trade unions which represent the workers in the retail sector. Since those reforms we have seen a very different approach to trading hours exemptions. Businesses and unions have come together to support these targeted extended trading hours, which benefit the entire community, and the government has been pleased to facilitate that.

Importantly, these exemptions do not undermine the trading hours regime established by this parliament, do not take away workers' public holidays and maintain the principle that a worker cannot be forced to work these additional hours unless they agree to do that. The government looks forward to continuing to work with industry stakeholders on both sides of the fence to deliver outcomes for the South Australian community.