Easter Trading Backdown Easter Trading Backdown

The Bracks Government has performed almost a complete U-turn from its controversial Easter Sunday trading ban, quietly announcing shortly before Christmas that large hardware stores and nurseries will be able to open on Easter Sunday.

The backdown heads off what industry insiders believe could have been widespread illegal trading next year in breach of the original Easter Sunday ban.

The Government revealed the move - its latest backdown on Easter trading rules - in the Government Gazette a week before Christmas.

In other changes, all businesses in the surf coast town of Torquay will be able to open on Easter Sunday, as will all traders in the Murray River towns of Yarrawonga and Cobram. The exemptions apply for the next five years.

Despite the latest backdown, a number of big retailers will still be forced to close on Easter Sunday next year. They include the David Jones and Myer department stores, Safeway and Coles supermarkets, and Target, Big W and Kmart outlets.

The Government shocked businesses when it announced the details of its Easter Sunday trading ban 10 months ago, about 10 weeks before Easter.

The ban prevented stores with more than 20 staff from opening, unless they were exempted by law. But councils could apply for exemptions to the Government on behalf of their shire, towns, or shops. In many cases exemptions were granted.

The law, which also declared Easter Saturday a public holiday, outraged the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Australian Retailers Association.

The Government refined the ban a number of times this year to allow hundreds of stores, which otherwise would have been forced to shut, to open next Easter.

Shortly before Easter it announced that petrol stations and pharmacies could open on Easter Sunday regardless of their size. And in early November it introduced legislation to allow all fast-food stores, restaurants, takeaway food outlets and video stores to open.

Yesterday Bunnings and Mitre 10, two of the biggest hardware groups in Australia, welcomed the trading reprieve. The groups said they lost millions of dollars in revenue over Easter this year.

Mitre 10 chief executive Frank Whitford said the backdown was fantastic. "Obviously it's something that should not have happened in the first place, I think it (the original ban) was a real silly decision and fortunately they have had the courage to reverse it,"he said.

"Certainly there was a groundswell of people who were going to trade illegally and the Government could not afford that to occur. But it's a good decision and a responsible one."

Easter Sunday was the busiest day of the year for paint sales and one of the busiest Sundays for hardware retailers, he said.

Bunnings managing director Peter Davis said it was a victory for common sense. "I know that a number of senior people in the home improvement industry have been lobbying the Government, not just Bunnings, and I think the net result is a great one for our industry and consumers and employees,"he said.

VECCI chief executive officer Neil Coulson said: "Whilst we would like to see all businesses being able to trade on Easter Sunday, this is a commonsense measure and a strong step forward."

A State Government spokesman said the decision was made after the legislation was reviewed following Easter. It allowed people to undertake home maintenance and do-it-yourself work, popular at that time of the year.

The spokesman said at this stage no other categories of businesses were being considered for exemptions.

Source:
Easter trade backdown - The Age

Hardware shops welcome new tack - The Age

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