Thursday, 26th April 2007

Ground swell petition opposes Easter shop trading

United Future MP Gordon Copeland, an opponent of shop trading on Good Friday or Easter Sunday, today revealed that there is ground swell of support for a petition opposing the two bills currently before Parliament.

"The petition was commenced by George Dunning of Nelson who forwarded the 835 signatures he had collected to me, as the sponsoring Member of Parliament, in late March.

"It was originally proposed that the petition would be presented to Parliament on the 1st of May to coincide both with the International Workers Day and also, in the Catholic Church, the feast day of Saint Joseph the Worker.

"However, the two Easter Trading bills (one in the name of Jacqui Dean, the other in the name of Steve Chadwick) have been delayed because Sue Bradford's Anti-Smacking Bill has utilised all of the available time on the last two Members days and that looks set to continue during May.

"Accordingly a vote on the 2nd reading of the Easter Sunday Trading Bills could now be as late as the 13th of June with the Committee stage to follow (assuming the bills survive their 2nd readings).

"Given those realities, a loose "alliance" involving unions and churches has been brought together to advance the petition.

"Laila Harre and Maxine Gay of the National Distribution Union will be taking the lead on the union side and I have passed the word on to Catholic and Anglican bishops and to the Chief Executive of Vision Network New Zealand, on the churches' side.

"What began as one man's stand is therefore now moving in the direction of a more general ground swell of opposition to the bills.

"It is a pity in a way that the timing has coincided with Sue Bradford's Bill which has tended, for the moment, to overshadow the very deep concerns of many New Zealanders at the prospect of New Zealand's shop-free days, shrinking from an already skinny 3.5 per year to just 1.5."

Mr Copeland said that this not just about the right of shop owners to open their shops on these important traditional holidays.

"It is also about work/life balance, time with family and friends, and the opportunity for the more than 300,000 people who work in the retail sector to get off their feet and enjoy the holidays, along with the rest of us."

ENDS

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