Retail trading hours 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.
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…
Nick sorry mate, but Perth does not have the population to support extended trading.
Are you going to spend more money every week? or the same?
Are you going to shop every night? You’d better.
It seems like your house is a bloody mess! you really need to prioritise your life mate..I work 6 days a week, sometimes 7, average 12 hours every day. I have my own business and have not paid myself in the last 2 months.
Big business, such as the likes of Woolworths, have no problem opening all hours. What about small business? They don’t have the man hours to keep their business running. I’m telling you now, when you go shopping at 8pm on a Mon/Tue, most shops will not be opened! That’s for sure!
Then we will get people like you complaining again about “why aren’t the shops opened’?
Small business will suffer and you only know half of it.
Small business is as important to WA as big business is. Small business cannot handle a 7-day working week, their employee’s are not that flexible. Big Business are, and will inevitably drive out these small businesses as they have the ability to roster on part, casual and fulltime employees and operate a 7-day week.
This will result in higher prices in most markets.
Small business is too important to WA at the moment. We need a larger population to extend increase the size of labor force before any deregulation is done. Give it time.
Look at the economic postition of the USA Nick B………
Due to these trade restrictions, there are a lot of job opportunities that have been lost. The Government should just back off. I have been trying to hard to get a decent job and I still can’t find one. This is why Western Australia has been hit with the after effects of the U.S Global Recession, because there are not even any trading going on on Sunday.
During a time of Recesssion the country should create more jobs and keep the economy going. This is basic economic, which our Government fails to see and instead they debate about petty issues like implementing day light savings which everyone hated.
Wish the government would grow up and start making the right decisions and stop wasting tax payers money. Hope Julia Gillard does something better