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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (5 September) . . Page.. 3201 ..

Mr Moore: It is legislation for one group.

MR WHITECROSS: As Mr Moore rightly says, we are apparently now legislating to affect one particular company which had an idea. Mr Speaker, we are being asked to say to Coles, "No, you cannot offer a service to your customers if you have a shop in Belconnen; but, if you have a shop in Jamison, go for your life. No, you cannot offer a service to your customers if you have a shop in Tuggeranong; but, if you have a shop in Curtin, go for your life". What a nonsensical Bill! Somehow or other, according to this Government, it is not hurting small business if you shop at Coles at Jamison, but it is hurting small business if you shop at Coles at Belconnen; it is not hurting small business if you shop at Woolworths at Kippax, but it is hurting small business if you shop at Woolworths at the Tuggeranong Hyperdome or the Belconnen Mall. What a nonsense, Mr Speaker! Once again we see this Government punishing a company that simply wants to offer a service to its customers.

This Government have made much of the fact that they think, in Mr Humphries's opinion, and apparently in Mrs Carnell's opinion, the late night trading club is bad value for money. They have told us that on a number of occasions. We heard it mentioned in the speech tonight that it is bad value for money. They have said it across the chamber. If it is bad value for money, people will not take it up, Mr Speaker. Let them have the strength of their convictions. Let them try. We will see whether the customers think it is bad value for money or not. But the Government do not want to try. The Government do not have the guts to let it take its natural course, because they know that customers do want late night trading in town centre supermarkets. They know it for a fact. So, because they know it, they will not try it. They will not test their own judgment that this is bad value for money, because they know that the customers will not agree.

Mr Speaker, it is a simple fact that what the Government has done flies in the face of every principle of contemporary views about how commerce should be conducted. I want to remind people again of what the Australian Consumers Association had to say about this Government's legislation to restrict trading hours. We are not talking about the friends of big business here, Mr Speaker; we are talking about the people who represent the customers. The people I am worried about are the customers, the people who want the right to choose. This is what the Australian Consumers Association said:

Moves to restrict trading hours in Canberra town centres flies 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, mean flexibility in trading hours is critical for many consumers. Whilst the plight of small business is of concern to Canberra residents, the Government's other initiatives such as the helpShop program offer a better chance to support local business than artificially creating demand through the restriction of choice.

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