Jacqui Dean
Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean has defended her Easter Trading
Bill, expressing surprise at claims by the National
Distribution Union about the negative effects on Oamaru.
Mrs Dean raised the issue at her "Friday Forum" yesterday in
Oamaru, which had as its guest speaker Tauranga MP Simon
Bridges.
Her Bill, the Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Waitaki Easter
Trading) Amendment Bill 2010, was drawn from the Members'
Ballot in Parliament this month.
The Bill would allow businesses to open on Easter Friday and
Sunday in her Waitaki electorate, correcting what some view
as an anomaly between tourist towns, particularly Wanaka,
where trading is banned, and Queenstown, which can open.
Mrs Dean said the National Distribution Union's stance
against the Bill at a recent union meeting in Oamaru,
followed by the launch of a petition opposing it, was
"surprising".
"I don't imagine many [businesses] in Oamaru will want to
open over Easter because it would not be worth it," she said.
Her "intuition" was tourist towns such as Wanaka, and perhaps
Geraldine and Palmerston, may want to open.
"All the Bill does is allow them to do that - give them the
choice."
Mrs Dean said there were "a lot of benefits" for workers who
chose to work in businesses opened at Easter.
They would get time and a-half payment and a day off in lieu.
For young people, that could appeal.
She said it was "a process of negotiation" over which workers
were rostered to work on those days, and the Bill also
recognised the religious significance of Easter Friday and
Sunday.
"There is no compulsion [in the Bill] to open, nor for people
to go out and shop," she said.
Mr Bridges outlined what the Government had promised in its
2008 election campaign and what it had delivered,
concentrating on three areas - the economy, education, and
law and order.
- david.bruce@odt.co.nz
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.