Sunday trading coming to a shop near you

Todd Cardy
Perth Now
February 22, 2012

SUNDAY trading will become a reality across Perth from August this year under new laws introduced to State Parliament yesterday.

Premier Colin Barnett said he wanted to make reforming retail trading his first priority for the year because “the city’s shopping hours legislation was a long-running frustration for the people of Perth”.

Mr Barnett said the legislation would allow all general retailers to open in the Perth metropolitan area from 11am to 5pm on Sunday.

The special trading precincts which had existed in Perth, Fremantle, Midland, Armadale and Joondalup that allowed seven-day trading in those areas will be scrapped, he said. Instead, new laws would see the same rules apply to all shops in Perth.

“I know there will be a great sense of relief across Perth that people will finally have the right to go shopping on a Sunday,” Mr Barnett said.

NEWLY elected Labor leader Mark McGowan has given the green light to allow Sunday trading across WA and reworked his party’s stance on uranium mining.

PRESSURE continues to mount on the State Government to deregulate retail trading hours and help the struggling industry.

“The legislation is expected to be passed in this session of Parliament and our intention is that Sunday trading will apply from August this year.”

Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive James Pearson welcomed the move to seven-day trading across Perth, but he urged the government to fully deregulate and remove shopping restrictions.

“Under the current proposal, the State’s retail trading hours laws will remain littered with complex and unnecessary rules,” Mr Pearson said.

“CCI believes the complex list of regulations which dictate to retailers what they can and can’t sell should be immediately removed.”

The proposed change to shopping hours laws follows Labor’s about-turn on the issue after Mark McGowan replaced Eric Ripper as leader of the party in January.

As the new leader, Mr McGowan announced two significant changes to party policy that included overturning the party’s opposition to Sunday trading.

Despite the move to reform shopping hours, Mr Barnett stopped short of full deregulation because the new laws will retain the current restrictions such as on durable consumer goods, including white goods.

Under current legislation, Bunnings, which does not sell white goods, can open 7am to 7pm everyday, while its new competitor, Woolthworths-owned Masters, will only be able to trade 11am to 5pm on Sundays because it does.

Commerce Minister Simon O’Brien said the government was making “incremental changes” to the current laws, and he did not believe coalition MPs would agree to any amendment to the proposed legislation.

“The legislation we are introducing today is quite simple ­– it will enable all shops to open in the metro area on Sunday if they wish to – that is a significant change and that’s the change for now,” Mr O’Brien said. “Other changes that may come with the evolution of retail trading hours is something for another day.”

Mr McGowan, who had attempted to insert a clause to allow retail workers to “opt-out” of working on Sundays as part of his support for the changes, gave in principle support to the government’s Bill.

“The 11-5pm is one that we will support, provided there is nothing slippery in there [the legislation],” he said. “Our view is, let’s got on with it.”

Mr McGowan said his offer to meet Mr Barnett to discuss the seven-day trading had been rejected, and that while he still hoped to include the “opt-out” clause to the new laws, he had been told that it may not be legal.

Retail Traders’ Association executive director Wayne Spencer said the new laws were long awaited after decades of dabbling around the edges.

“The RTA has advocated for the updating our archaic retail trading laws for decades,” he said.

“It all began with the introduction of Thursday night trading back in 1977; Saturday afternoon trading in 1988; Late Night Trading 2010 and now today.

“However, it now remains for both sides of Parliament to pass this vitally important piece of legislation.

“We call on all the Members of Parliament to get behind this new legislation, to pass it as quickly as possible through both Houses of Parliament and take this unique opportunity to show bi-partisan support for Sunday Trading.”