WA retail trading hours
This is a contentious issue in Western Australia. Most shops and supermarkets here can’t trade after 6pm on weekdays or on Sunday at all.
I can’t think of anywhere in the developed world that has such restricted trading hours. Maybe Sundays are banned somewhere for religious reasons, but evenings, when most people actually have time to shop?
There have been referendums on the issue previously, at state and local level, and any move to extend trading hours has been defeated.
I can’t recall there being a referendum on the issue in any other state. The governments there just got on with the job and let the people have their say at the next election.
There was some scaremongering in Victoria, mostly about the predicted demise of small business. This never occurred.
The Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is leading a new push to extend retail trading hours.
“Extended trading hours will create thousands of new jobs and give workers greater flexibility in the hours they work,” the chamber says.
I don’t think there should be a referendum on this issue. The government would be better advised to have a one-year trial and allow the impact to be independently assessed.
That reminds me of the other prickly WA issue of daylight saving, with which the government decided on a three-year trial. One year was enough, just as it would be with shop trading hours.
Tags: opinion, politics, Western-Australia
Personally, I dont think it is a legitimate role of any level of government to impose restrictions on retail trading hours. If Coles wants to sell to me, and I wish to buy from Coles a 2L bottle of milk at 3am Sunday morning it is absolutely no one else’s business: especially the governments!
I have lived in nsw for 15yrs now & cant get over the strange trading hours in Perth, although they have some benefits, times have definetely changed & wld be not only convenient for Perth shoppers but give people a chance to gain more employment, I work at night around my kids & this is due to the fact that Syd supermarkets are open til midnight everynight & open at 6am, if i still lived in wa I wouldnt have a job. These trading horus are very old fashioned & dont meet with todays needs they have to go..
It is ludicrous to know that shopping hours in WA are 8am-6PM. Instead of progressing, WA is moving backward. Young generation will never want WA as its destination due to such archaic laws. We live in 24×7 world. It is hard to understand why the shoppers are denied their right to spend the money due to such stupid laws. As rightly said by you, the government has to go ahead and implement the law and not going for the referendum for such issues. Working couples find it so tight to do their finish their work and home duties. More spending will definitely help the development of the state. I bet it will boost at least 5% of the retail trade.
Look at Walmart in USA…