Decision on Easter Trading Should Be Made Locally

16 November 2005

Media Release

Decision on Easter Trading Should Be Made at Local Level

Opening retail outlets on Easter Sunday is a local rather than a national issue, and decisions should be devolved to local councils.

That’s the view of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce who will be supporting the remit of the Wanaka Chamber at this week’s annual conference of the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce.

“The sensitivities and complexities of whether and which retail outlets should be permitted to open on Easter Sunday are such that an all embracing national policy by central government is not an appropriate approach.” said Auckland Chief Executive, Michael Barnett. “Retailers and other interested parties are far better served if they can put their cases and debate the specific issues with their local representatives. This will lead to better decision making and more suitable outcomes for all parties, which will benefit rather than frustrate the local community.”

Mr Barnett added that there was strong business opinion that individual retailers should themselves be able to make an unfettered decision to open or not after consulting their staff but a reversion to this policy just now was probably unrealistic. Thus, he tended to agree with the Retailers’ Association that devolution was a good compromise.

ENDS

© Scoop Media