MEDIA RELEASE

29 March 2001

Graham Capill
Party Leader

SAY NO TO EASTER TRADING

Party Leader Graham Capill has, today, urged MPs not to change the law relating to Easter Trading.

Mr Capill said, “I know many people who want to worship God over Easter and who may lose that freedom if the Government allows trading on Good Friday.

“Arguments by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce that employees are protected by the Employment Relations Act are naïve. Many small businesses can ill-afford to release an employee when they are reliant on that person’s work to run the business and the employee feels powerless to insist on having the day off. As with Sunday trading, employees have been forced to work or face redundancy.

“No one is saying that people cannot garden on Good Friday or must go to church. What people do is their choice but surely they can shop for requirements the day before. It is pathetic to think that some people are suggesting there is such a thing as a ‘right to shop’ 365 days a year. If there is such a ‘right’, the present law is merely curtailing it to protect the freedoms of others.

“The Government should not capitulate to those businesses with a vested interest, that have flouted the law for years.”

Mr Capill concluded, “With family life under unprecedented pressure, it is time to protect it from the pervading effects of commercialism. Two days off from shopping is not really going to break the bank for any business, is it?”

ENDS

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