Ground swell petition opposes Easter shop trading

United Future MP Gordon Copeland, an opponent of shop trading on Good Friday or Easter Sunday, today revealed that there is ground swell of support for a petition opposing the two bills currently before Parliament.

“The petition was commenced by George Dunning of Nelson who forwarded the 835 signatures he had collected to me, as the sponsoring Member of Parliament, in late March.

"It was originally proposed that the petition would be presented to Parliament on the 1st of May to coincide both with the International Workers Day and also, in the Catholic Church, the feast day of Saint Joseph the Worker.

“However, the two Easter Trading bills (one in the name of Jacqui Dean, the other in the name of Steve Chadwick) have been delayed because Sue Bradford’s Anti-Smacking Bill has utilised all of the available time on the last two Members days and that looks set to continue during May.

“Accordingly a vote on the 2nd reading of the Easter Sunday Trading Bills could now be as late as the 13th of June with the Committee stage to follow (assuming the bills survive their 2nd readings).

“Given those realities, a loose “alliance” involving unions and churches has been brought together to advance the petition.

"Laila Harre and Maxine Gay of the National Distribution Union will be taking the lead on the union side and I have passed the word on to Catholic and Anglican bishops and to the Chief Executive of Vision
Network New Zealand, on the churches' side.

ENDS

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