Page 4199 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 29 November 1994
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Madam Speaker, I am sure that members would be aware that retailing is a very complex activity, and there have been a number of changes in recent years which, I believe, have changed the nature of retailing, particularly as it occurs in the ACT. For example, the demographics in the Territory have changed. We are an ageing population. It is certainly the case that there are many more cars owned in the Territory than used to be the case when other shopping centres were developed. It is quite common now for families to include two people in full-time employment and for them to have two cars. That is not uncommon in the Territory. It is also the case that there are now many more women in the paid work force than there used to be, and the participation rate of women in the paid work force in the Territory is the highest anywhere in this country, by quite a long shot. Those changes have occurred in the last 20 or 30 years.
There also have been changes to the kind of commercial parameters that have operated in our Territory. Perhaps the biggest of these has been the commercial decision taken by some of the large supermarkets - for instance, Coles and Woolworths - to operate on a 24-hour basis, and to invest in their shops, to expand, so that that 24-hour operation can be a commercially viable prospect for them. I know that there has been a great deal of loose talk about that move to 24-hour trading, and I will put it on the record again that this Government has never made a decision that that 24-hour trading ought to be permitted. It has been the case for many years that shops selling food could do that, and they have taken the commercial decision to do so. In some shopping centres there have been changes in the nature of those shopping centres over time. Other members have drawn attention to the closure of many pharmacies, in which Mrs Carnell had a hand. It is the case also that a great many post offices and banking operations have been moved out of local shopping centres, very regrettably. I regret that. That has been occurring for many years. There have been some schools closed. Of course, if the Liberals had their way, there would be some 17 more schools closed. That has an impact on the local shops. There has been a changing situation.
Madam Speaker, I want to make it very clear that Mrs Kelly does not make this Government's policy on retailing; Mr Whalan does not make this Government's policy on retailing, although he does appear to have captured the Opposition, hook, line and sinker. It is fortunate indeed, I believe, Madam Speaker, that we do have a government which is committed to establishing a level playing field for retailing, including in the Tuggeranong Valley. We do indeed, as the Minister has said, recognise the requirement for a proper study to be carried out, and we need to establish the criteria by which future decisions about the expansion and the location of retail space may be made. The Minister has already said that. He has also said that there will be some local corner stores that will continue to be developed, and they will be to serve Bonython, South Gordon and Banks. Those shops will be well and truly the corner store variety, of approximately 150 to 200 square metres in size. So, any prospect that they would be affecting larger centres is remote.
Unlike our colleagues on the opposition benches, as a government we do take very seriously our obligation to make decisions in a robust and consultative manner - unlike the way in which the Opposition, for instance, handled the schools closure debate, when again it was just a unilateral decision, "We are closing schools", like the unilateral decision, "The Hyperdome will not expand. There will be no Big Fresh. There will be no Target.
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