New Zealand industry body Retail NZ has supported a bid to relieve trading restrictions on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young said retailers do not believe that the Shop Trading Hours Act is fit for purpose to meet the needs of consumers or retailers in 2024. A private member’s Bill lodged by ACT MP Cameron Luxton is aiming to relieve the red tape.
“Consumers are able to shop online without restrictions on any day of the year at any time," Young said. "The restrictions the Act places on bricks-and-mortar stores are commercially inequitable, inconsistent, outdated and not justified.”
Retail NZ added that these restrictions do not apply to any other types of business, and that local councils have had the ability to provide exemptions since 2016, which means that the restrictions are not consistent across the country.
“Shop workers have special rights under the law and are guaranteed Easter Sunday off, if they want it,” Young said. “We support the continuation of this right.”
According to Luxton, the same bill was lodged by former ACT MP Chris Baillie, but was voted down when drawn from the ballot in 2022 after the NZ Labour Party forced its MPs to vote as a bloc, instead of allowing them to use their conscience as is traditionally the case for bills involving alcohol or religious holidays.
“If my bill is drawn from the ballot, there’s a good chance that Parliament will finally overhaul our antiquated Easter trading laws,” Luxton said.
“Forcing businesses to close over Easter is a paternalistic relic of an old-fashioned New Zealand that just doesn’t make sense for a diverse modern nation.
“Businesses with narrow margins feel real financial pain from the annual Easter shutdown, and hospo workers don’t tend to enjoy enforcing silly rules around whether adults can have a pint with lunch.”
Luxton said his bill will give retail businesses a choice on whether they want to trade on Good Friday or Easter Sunday.
“The Bill also looks after workers as it retains the existing employee protections that apply in respect of Easter Sunday and extends these protections to Good Friday,” he said.
“In 2016 the Government kicked the can down to local councils but most of the population still lives under restricted trading rules. That half-measure has ended up adding even more complexity to our regulatory system.
“ACT is committed to unwinding dopey regulations and Easter Trading is a great place for me to start. I’d like to thank Chris Baillie for his advocacy around this cause. It’s an issue everyone has an opinion on and I can’t wait to raise hell about it in the run-up to Easter.”