Wanaka retailers are likely to resume their annual game of cat and mouse with Department of Labour inspectors this holiday weekend, by flouting Easter shop-trading laws.
A Department of Labour spokesman said the law would be enforced this Easter for shop trading.
"[The department] will deploy its resources as appropriate with the aim of ensuring retailers comply with their legal obligations."
The law, which means most shops must close on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, would apply in Wanaka in the same way as it did throughout most of the country, the spokesman said.
Wanaka Chamber of Commerce president Leigh Stock said the inconsistencies of the shop-trading laws created unfair results for the resort's retailers and business owners at Easter time.
The Wanaka Chamber of Commerce has never issued a directive to its members to observe the trading laws during Easter.
"The law is the law. It is up to individual members as to whether they respect that law," Mr Stock said.
The chamber was confident the law would eventually be changed, he said.
A statement from the Office of the Minister for Labour, Kate Wilkinson, said department inspectors would undertake the same processes they had in the past with regard to any fines or prosecutions.
National Party MP for Otago Jacqui Dean said the actions of Department of Labour inspectors in "recent history" had shown they were not "terribly concerned with Wanaka retailers".
However, Mr Stock shied away from Mrs Dean's suggestion.
"I certainly don't think they are turning a blind eye."
Retailers would only find out if the inspectors had visited Wanaka a week after Easter - when an infringement notice might arrive in the post, he said.
Mrs Dean, who has been a strong advocate for change to the shop-trading laws, said she was personally "frustrated" at the existing state of affairs.
Her private member's Bill to amend the law was unsuccessful, last year.
Ms Wilkinson said shop trading was viewed by the National-led Government as a conscience issue and members were free to vote accordingly.
National's Rotorua electorate MP Todd McClay is the most recent member to lodge a private Bill on the matter.
His Bill would give councils the right to decide whether or not to allow Easter trading in their regions, Ms Wilkinson said.
Several Wanaka retailers have major sales advertised during the Easter trading period.
However, retailers spoken to by the Otago Daily Times would not confirm whether they would open, because they did not want to signal their intentions to Labour Department officials.
The department has the authority to prosecute shop owners and retailers who open in defiance of the trading laws.
