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Hodgman accused over shopping hours
The Minister for the CapitalTer
ritory, Mr Hodgman, was "unwit
tingly or by design" assisting lafge .
retail chains in their move for ex
tended trading hours in Canberra,
the chairman of the Canberra
Queanbeyan regional committee of
the Australian Association of Inde
pendent Businesses, Mr Steve
Stavreas, said yesterday.
Mr Stavreas said that Mr Hodgman,
had "unwittingly or by design created
an opportunity for some large retail
chains to further their claims of public
demand for extended trading hours", by
allowing retail stores in Canberra to.
trade on the Anzac Day holiday on
Monday.
But Mr Hodgman said from Hobart
last night that his decision to permit
trading on Monday had nothing to do
with the deregulation of trading hours
issue.
"I made it very clear when I ap
proved special trading on Easter Satur
day and again for.Monday, that these
were special cases and were not to be
used as precedents — one way or the
other — on the trading-hours issue,!' Mr
Hodgman said.
' Spokesmen for most major traders in
the large ACT shopping centres have
confirmed that they will be open on
Monday. Trading is permitted! but' is
not'compulsory, and will be at the,
discretion of individual store operators.
At the Belconnen Mall the. Myer,
Youngs, K-Mart and Woolworths stores
will be open; at the Woden Shopping.
Square David Jones, Big W, Youngs,
Woolworths, Fosseys and Norman»Ross
will open; at,the Monaro Mall David,
Jones,;Waltons and Coles will be open.
and at Coolcman Court Wooiworths
and Fosseys will open.
Youngs will also open their hardware
store in Braddon.
A spokesman for Lend Lease Invest
ments Pty Ltd, which manages Woden
Shopping Square, Monaro Mall and
Cooleman Court, said that only about
40 to 50 per cent of small retailers in
the centres had advised that they would
also open on Monday.
' Mr Stavreas said that the AA1B
■. believed.that Mr Hodgman's decision to
permit trading on Monday "is directly;
connected with the issue of deregulation
[of shopping hours] currently being ex
amined by the Parliamentary Joint
Committee'on the ACT".
"While declaring a public holiday for.
most sections of.the community, the
small retailer is being forced to work",
he said.
Although shops were not compelled
to open on Monday, "to argue that they
have a choice is not valid" because "the
larger retailers have again dictated the
situation by declaring their shops open,
forcing the small retailers to go along,
in order to preserve their positions in the
marketplace".
The AAIB had urged its 400 ACT
members not to open on Monday "to
avoid a dangerous precedent which may
affect future public holidays".
Mr Hodgman dismissed the claim
that he had in any way pre-empted the
Joint Parliamentary Committee in
quiry.
"I did notify the chairwoman. Sena
tor Margaret Rcid, (Lib, ACT) of my
decision for next Monday and I pointed
out that it was mainly to give Canberra
retail traders a fair opportunity to com
pete with NSW competitors, many of
whom will be opening on Monday," he
said. . ,?
"If I accepted Mr Stavreas' argu
ment I would have been forcing ACT
retail traders to close and I have no
doubt that thousands of Canberra resi
dents would have gone over the border
to NSW."
Most major NSW retailers are ex
pected to open on Monday and have
agreed to pay employees at double time
and a half.
However, many small shops which do
not normally open at weekends are
likely to stay closed, believing that
trading would not be brisk enough to
justify working on a holiday.
I
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