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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (22 May) . . Page.. 1590 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (continuing):

There is another thing I must comment on, by the way. I did not hear your comments on radio, Ms Horodny, but I believe that you said that the Gowrie shops had closed. As someone who lived in Gowrie for many years and who regularly shops there - I have an appointment to go and see the physiotherapist there next week - I hope to God that they have not shut, because we are all going to be in trouble. I suggest that before you say that on the public airwaves you get your facts straight, because it can affect trading in those areas if someone as responsible as you says that publicly.

Ms Horodny also stated that to do nothing to assist small retailers would mean their death knell. This Government acknowledges the pressures being placed on many small shopping centres and will put in place concrete initiatives to ensure, where possible, their future viability. However, research is required to better understand the changes occurring within retailing in Canberra at all levels and their implications for the future. The recent review of trading hours conducted by Mr John Hyndes is one of three major studies undertaken towards this goal. Mr Humphries has already mentioned the others.

In his report Mr Hyndes identified the area of main concern and contention in relation to retail trading hours as supermarket retailing. Supermarkets are regarded as anchor tenants in town centres, group centres and local centres, and Mr Hyndes concluded that, in general, local centres have become or will become non-viable if local supermarkets close. Mr Hyndes recommended the introduction of a hierarchical trading hours regime. The regime would be primarily targeted at supermarket-type activity and would give the longest trading hours to local centres, followed by group centres, with the most restricted hours being allocated to town centres. Special arrangements were proposed for stand-alone supermarkets, depending on size, fruit and vegetable markets, Christmas and public holidays, and special trading days. Significant fines for breaches - $20,000 for corporations and $2,000 for individuals - were proposed. However, as I mentioned earlier, the report of the review of trading hours is one of three reports that the Government is considering in the development of a retail strategy for the ACT, the other two being, as Mr Humphries said, Ibecon, which was commissioned by the previous Government, and the report to the Territory Planning Authority on the social impact of retail changes.

Mr Speaker, the report of the trading hours review acknowledges these reports and notes that its findings and recommendations need to be reviewed in the light of, and integrated with, these other reports, particularly the social impact study. It is important that the Greens recognise and understand this. The trading hours report - indeed, any of the reports that have been mentioned - do not stand alone. They need to be considered together and in the context of other information and research on planning, development and retail-related matters. The issue of retailing in town, group and local centres is not just a simple big business versus small business issue either, as some would like to believe. The Government is strongly aware of the community's concerns about the decline in business in many local centres. On the other hand, there are many small businesses in group and town centres. In Woden Plaza alone, for example, there are some 300 tenants. Many of them support initiatives such as the recent Lend Lease proposal to extend the Woden Plaza because it will benefit them and their customers. A large number of those small business tenants have recently written to Mr Humphries and to other members of this Assembly indicating their support for the proposed expansion.

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