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Govt Dumps Easter Sunday Trading Laws on Councils

Ria Bond MP
New Zealand First List Member of Parliament based in Invercargill
26 AUGUST 2016

Govt Dumps Easter Sunday Trading Laws on Councils

Local people should have been given the chance to decide at the forthcoming local body elections whether they wanted shops open on Easter Sunday, says New Zealand First.

“Instead of a common sense referendum at election time the government is dumping a complex, confusing and costly exercise on local councils by passing the Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill today,” says New Zealand First’s Ria Bond, who sits on Parliament’s commerce select committee.

“National is forcing councils to start from scratch and create policy on shop trading hours for Easter Sunday. Only then can they consult communities.
“The local body elections were an opportunity for the public to make the decision – and a referendum would have been cheaper.

“Ratepayers, who are already struggling, and local councils, which do not want this financial burden, have been ignored.

“National pushed this law through, refusing to allow its MPs a conscience vote. In the past it claimed the right to cast a conscience vote was its clear line of distinction with the Labour Party.

“In 1997 when Labour proposed to vote on party lines, National strongly objected saying ‘these sorts of issues should be conscience issues’.

“Now National is no different.”

ENDS

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