Govt Shop Inspectors Out Today – Futile And Costly

“Government officials, on time and a half, will be out today searching for shops that are open and issuing them with $1,000 fines. It’s a waste of time and taxpayers’ money because even when they catch a shop open, the business will continue to trade for the rest of the day. It’s like something out of the 1970s. It is a futile and costly exercise and a complete farce,” claims an Auckland retail advocate.

"This weekend Department of Labour inspectors will be out fining Wanaka retailers but not Queenstown ones. They’ll be fining Rotorua shops, but not Taupo shops. Parnell is also exempt, as are garden centres on Sunday, but hardware stores selling plants could be fined. The current Shop Trading Hours Repeal Act 1990 is unfair and inadequate and sadly Easter trading remains a complete circus,” says Cameron Brewer, chief executive of the Newmarket Business Association.

“Wanaka is currently over-run by 80,000 visitors to Warbirds Over Wanaka, yet businesses that want to serve the public can only do so by breaking the law. The current rules around shop trading are not working and desperately need updating.

"This is not about opening up all the shops across the country as our surveys show the average city retailer doesn't actually want to open. Rather, this is about being fairer and providing some consistency, particularly for tourist towns.

“Our tourist towns want to be able to make hay when the sun shines. It's crazy that visitor destinations like Queenstown and Taupo can trade this Easter, but Wanaka, Rotorua, and Mt Maunganui can't and desperately want to.”

“Easter trading remains a mess despite extensive parliamentary debate as recent as December, when Rotorua MP Todd McClay's private members' bill on Easter trading, promoting local choice, narrowly failed. Since 1990 there have been about 10 attempts to change the shop trading laws but all have failed. The Government is now in a position to cobble together the numbers to pass better legislation. It needs to put up a fairer Government bill. Over 20 years a raft of private members’ bills and conscience votes have only ever fallen short.

“Again this is not about universally opening up every shop in New Zealand. No one wants that. Rather this is about providing a mechanism so individual communities, like tourist towns, can seek an exemption if that’s what they really want, and not have to break the law.

“Providing tourist towns and local communities like Wanaka the chance to apply for an exemption, is well overdue. No one thinks it’s good public policy forcing Wanaka shut when it’s hosting 80,000 people for an international airshow. Yet amazingly nothing is in the pipeline to improve the law. The Government needs to sort this all out once and for all, " says Cameron Brewer.

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