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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-02-29 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

TRADING HOURS

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:03): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The vibrancy of our city centre is critical to our sense of ourselves and to how we project our region to the world. I have committed that one of the seven key priorities for this government is creating a vibrant city. This week, the government will introduce legislation which will open up our central business district to public holiday shop trading on all but Good Friday, Christmas Day and ANZAC Day morning. As we have seen on Proclamation Day and Australia Day, opening up the CBD to shop trading brings the city alive on those days. For instance, approximately 130,000 people came to the CBD on 27 December, and $17 million was generated in retail sales.

The legislation leaves unaltered the shop trading provisions applying to the suburbs in Adelaide. This fits with our understanding of the people of Adelaide, who want a vibrant, open, heart of the city, but want to preserve the best of our quiet, family-friendly neighbourhoods. By doing so, the legislation protects our local businesses like our independent supermarkets, our convenience stores and their suppliers, from the pressures we see interstate of the dominant players, Coles and Woolworths. There is no doubt that one of the reasons we have the strongest independent supermarket sector in Australia, and a strong produce sector, is that the government has stood strongly against the total deregulation for which the big players and their supporters have lobbied.

The legislation also provides for two part-day holidays from 5pm to 12pm on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. This recognises that these are precious times, like some other special times during the year, for workers to spend with their families and friends. People who are working on these nights while the rest of us are enjoying ourselves should be compensated for it.

The legislation is a package. It is a package because it represents a great strength of South Australia—parties coming together in a spirit of compromise to resolve a longstanding issue. It is a package because it represents all that is good about the South Australian lifestyle: vibrancy in the city centre, quieter neighbourhoods, strong local businesses and protection of those special times to share with friends and families.

It is also a package because it will settle once and for all this issue of shop trading deregulation, particularly as it affects the suburbs. Those local businesses will be protected. This is not just the government's commitment, it is the political reality that will be brought about by the historic compromise. There will no longer be any significant constituency seeking broader deregulation.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That is why this package has the broad support of a genuine coalition, not one of a narrow group of self-interested employer organisations, but one of employer groups, business organisations and businesses—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —local government, unions and people who share with us a vision for the future of our city which gives life to the centre and protects what we love about our suburbs.

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