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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (27 June) . . Page.. 2429 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

I want to finish by dealing with the nonsense talked by the Government to the effect that the Labor Party's position on this is all about supporting big business. The Labor Party's policy on this is all about supporting the consumers. The consumers are the people who vote for me; they are the people who vote for the Labor Party; they are the people who vote for the Greens; and they are the people who vote for you guys as well. The Australian Consumers Association put it pretty succinctly when they said:

Moves to restrict trading hours in Canberra town centres fly in the face of consumer choice and will not solve the problems of Canberra business ...

Changing lifestyles, particularly longer working hours and an increase in the number of relationships where both partners work -

this is the real world -

mean flexibility in trading hours is critical for many consumers.

Whilst the plight of small business is of concern to Canberra residents -

and it is -

the government's other initiatives such as helpShop Program offer a better chance to support local business than artificially creating demand through restriction of choice.

Hear, hear! The Consumers Association concludes by urging the Carnell Government to look further at the issue and implement real solutions that incorporate, not ignore, consumer choice. Consumer choice is the central issue here. Consumers have been voting with their feet. The solution for small businesses, whether in suburban shopping centres or elsewhere, lies with consumer choice. That is why the Labor Party supports the helpShop initiatives. The helpShop initiatives have the potential to address the issue of offering consumers what they want, and that means offering consumers more choices. We support that. We do not support initiatives such as this trading hours legislation which take choice away from consumers, at a cost of 300 jobs, half a million dollars in lost payroll tax and inconvenience to thousands and thousands of residents in Canberra. It is not good enough.

MR SPEAKER: The member's time has expired.

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