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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (14 May) . . Page.. 1355 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

Late last year and early this year the Government conducted a thorough analysis of exactly what was happening with regard to people's shopping habits, in an attempt to assess whether the desired effect was being achieved. The information, which I now table, concerning that analysis indicates that the effect was not being achieved, at least to anything like the extent that would be required to justify the continuation of those trading hours restrictions. People were asked, through market analysis research, what they were doing in regard to their shopping habits.

The survey found that 9.5 per cent of Canberrans had changed their shopping centres with respect to their main grocery shopping, that is, the shopping for the weekly groceries, the major shopping purchase; and 6.7 per cent of people had changed their shopping centres with respect to convenience shopping, that is, for minor things like bread and milk on the way home or whatever. That was for the period from the middle of 1996 until the end of 1996. However, Mr Speaker, of those people, a much smaller proportion attributed the change in their shopping habits to the new ACT shopping hours. For those who changed their main grocery shopping, a total of only 4.3 per cent of total Canberrans attributed that to the new shopping hours; and a total of only 1.6 per cent of those doing convenience shopping attributed that to the new shopping hours.

The conclusion which the survey came to was that Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the main occasions of shopping. Most shopping, 73 per cent, is conducted during daytime hours to 7.00 pm. For about two in 10 shoppers, the main grocery shopping and convenience shopping are conducted between 7.00 pm and 10.00 pm - hours which, of course, were unavailable in town centres most nights of the week.

People were also asked about their attitudes towards the limits on shopping hours, and people indicated that, overall, they did not agree with the new shopping hours. Only 4 per cent strongly agreed; another 15 per cent agreed with the restrictions on shopping hours; totalling about 19 per cent of the Canberra population who agreed with the restrictions. Twenty-two per cent neither agreed nor disagreed; making over 40 per cent of people who either agreed or had no strong view about it. This is a very far cry, I might point out, from what was supposed to be the overwhelming opposition - the total opposition, as described by those opposite - to these changes. However, a majority of people clearly were not in favour of the restrictions. Twenty-eight per cent disagreed; and 32 per cent strongly disagreed with the restriction on hours; making a total of 60 per cent in disagreement.

People were asked whether it was a good idea for the smaller shopping centres to be assisted by restrictions on shopping hours. Of those people polled, 45 per cent thought it was a good idea; 53 per cent said it was not a good idea; 9 per cent were unsure. There was a high degree of awareness by people about the effect of the change in shopping hours; and, despite that experience, despite actually experiencing how that was working and knowing what the restrictions actually meant, there was still opposition by the ACT community.

Mr Speaker, by far the most important information, however, is the number of people who have actually changed their shopping habits as a result of the restrictions on trading hours. The 4.3 per cent who changed would not be enough to warrant the continuation of such legislation. Indeed, there is no indication that those 4.3 per cent of people had

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