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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (20 November) . . Page.. 3840 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

Mr Speaker, I am very pleased to present this Bill to the Assembly. It provides for an annual four-week exemption from our new trading hours restrictions for the supermarkets in the town centres during the Christmas-New Year period. I believe that this proposal represents a sensible and suitable compromise to our current unpopular and inequitable trading hours laws - inequitable, because major stores in the town centres, such as Kmart, which on a number of lines are in direct competition with supermarkets which operate on an unrestricted basis, have already indicated that they will be opening at least until midnight throughout much of this period. This Bill will allow these major competitors in the town centres to operate on an equal footing.

It is no secret that I have opposed the current trading hours restrictions and that they are extremely unpopular with most people in Canberra. They are even unpopular with many small traders who operate in the town centres. Once the big supermarkets close each day, everyone leaves the centres, which, in effect, has placed a de facto trading restriction on the smaller businesses in each major shopping centre. This Bill will allow these smaller businesses to have a fair go over the Christmas period, too.

Mr Speaker, I do not wish to speak for very long and I do not wish to politicise this issue; I think we spent far too much time debating it before. I hope, though, that there will be bipartisan support for this amendment. It is designed to make life a little less hectic for all Canberrans, especially those with families, who struggle to fit in their normal shopping without the added burden of Christmas. There is not a lot more that I would like to say at this stage, other than that I have chosen the dates of 9 December through to 8 January as the period that fairly represents the holiday season for Canberrans and their interstate friends and relatives. Grocery shopping under the new restrictions between Thursday and Saturday nights is bad enough now. I hate to think what it will be like come Christmas Eve when those supermarkets try to close their doors at 7.00 pm.

Mr Speaker, many people who shop now for their groceries will naturally utilise that time for Christmas shopping, which will leave very little time to do their normal food shopping. That is why I hope that the Government especially would see some sense in what I am trying to achieve here. Also, by legislating, we will set in concrete a small period over the Christmas break in which major retailers will be able to employ more people, extra staff, especially school leavers looking for work prior to beginning their tertiary studies. This is not a political issue; this is something that I hope we can address sensibly and, as I said, have bipartisan support on. I believe this Bill to be a suitable response to the likely problems and a suitable compromise to make this period of the year a little less hectic. I commend it to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr De Domenico) adjourned.

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