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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 13 Hansard (4 December) . . Page.. 4355 ..

Mr Whitecross: Just take all their Christmas business.

MR DE DOMENICO: Settle down, Mr Nobody; you will be all right. The exemption will be for a nine-day period in the lead-up to Christmas and the week after Christmas. There is no need, in the Government's view, for that extension to last for any longer. For it to do so would be a reflection on what this Assembly decided to do not too long ago. We have consulted with town centre management - - -

Mr Whitecross: I think you are reflecting on a vote now.

MR DE DOMENICO: If you do not like this, Mr Whitecross, you support Mr Osborne's Bill. Let the Assembly decide, as always. We are always in the hands of the Assembly, Mr Whitecross.

We consulted with town centre management to identify at what times their shops would be trading over the Christmas period. Clearly, it would be unreasonable for those shops to be open, attracting pre-Christmas trade, while supermarkets are closed. The Government is not deserting local shops, nor will we desert local shops, in the festive season. The exemptions are reasonable and for the period required - no more and no less. In our view, the exemptions are fair and reasonable for all in the market. We therefore say to the crossbenchers: Do not support Mr Osborne's Bill, and retain the legislation this Assembly passed some time ago. The Government will be prepared to accommodate the supermarkets in the major town centres, after consulting with them, should the Assembly decide not to pass Mr Osborne's Bill.

MR WOOD (10.51): Mr Speaker, the Opposition will be supporting Mr Osborne's amendment to the foolish legislation that was passed some little time ago. The Government's proposal I read in the paper today, to extend Christmas trading hours in the major town centres, is a clear acknowledgment by the Government that it made an awful mistake. It is not too often that we get to see the Government beating its breast and saying that it was wrong, but we have on this occasion. It is also a confession on the part of the Government that it is clearly lacking any logic in the way it is proceeding. The Government has claimed - I do not believe that it has been borne out by events - that it is protecting small business. If it were to sustain that argument, it would protect small business by allowing them to get the cream of the trade at Christmastime. That is when many businesses in Canberra do most of their trading, or the trading increases markedly. If the Government's argument were valid, and I do not think it is, they would allow small business to reap the benefits of the increased trade at Christmastime.

We can see that the argument of the Government simply lacks logic. They made a mistake at the time, a mistake confirmed by subsequent arrangements, when we hear small businesses in various parts of Canberra saying that, in relation to new developments, the Government is attacking the businesses it claims to defend. This was a short-sighted argument at the time when the Government wanted simply to appear to be delivering what it promised at election time. It wanted to give the appearance of doing something.

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