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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (14 May) . . Page.. 1359 ..

MS HORODNY (continuing):

The Government has not provided any data on changes in retail turnover, but the anecdotal evidence is that trade in local shops has improved since the trading hours law was introduced. There have been reported increases in turnover of between 6 and 8 per cent. This is certainly a significant figure for the shopkeepers concerned. There have also been no further closures of local supermarkets since the trading hours were restricted, despite the regular closures that occurred before that time. This increase in trade for local shops has been achieved at little inconvenience to the ACT population as a whole. The Government's own research showed that 75 per cent of people do their shopping before 7.00 pm and were not affected by the trading hours restrictions at all. In fact, the ABS survey found that 90 per cent of shoppers did their shopping before 7.00 pm. The ABS survey also found that group centres, which are unaffected by the trading hours restrictions, are used by about 45 per cent of shoppers for their main and convenience shopping.

We are, therefore, very disappointed that the Government felt that it could not continue with this measure - which was having a small but significant economic benefit for local shops, with little inconvenience to the broader community - because the Government was concerned that it might lose some votes. This caving in to the supermarket lobby is not unexpected, however. The Government has been quite hypocritical about its support for local small retailers. On the one hand, it restricts the trading hours in town centres; on the other hand, it gave approval to the huge expansion of retail space in the ACT at a time when we are clearly oversupplied with retail space and at a time when there is no increase in consumer spending because of Canberra's recession.

Mr Berry: Come down, Ms Tucker; face the music.

MS HORODNY: Mr Berry, you have no answers to this problem. Unless you do, I suggest you sit quietly and listen. The Government has given approval to the expansion of Woden Plaza and the Tuggeranong Hyperdome and is pushing ahead with allowing a new shopping mall to be built in Manuka.

Mr Berry: Gary, why aren't you blushing?

MS HORODNY: I am not blushing, Mr Berry. Opening new shops does not mean that people will spend more; they will just shift their spending. The expansion of the existing shopping malls can only draw people away from the smaller shops.

Mr Moore: Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house. I cannot believe that, while Ms Horodny is speaking here, Ms Tucker is not here to support her position. The Liberal benches are just about depleted. (Quorum formed)

MS HORODNY: As I said at the start of my speech, this issue is really about the domination of the retail market by the national supermarket chains. Mrs Carnell said it all when she was quoted in the Canberra Times as saying:

The explicit aim of this legislation is to reduce the concentration of the retail dollar in the hands of a few big players. It's about levelling the playing field and encouraging greater competition not less competition.

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