United Future Must Block Easter Trading
Christian Heritage NZ leader Ewen McQueen called on United Future to block vote on Wednesday against the bill which
would open the way for shop trading on Easter Sunday. McQueen noted that when this issue was before Parliament earlier
this year, some of the United Future MPs voted in favour of liberalisation. He said,
“ The Christian / family values constituency that put United Future into Parliament did not expect to find some of its
MPs voting for Easter Sunday trading. It was disappointing when it happened earlier this year and this time those voters
will be looking closely to see if all the United Future MPs act consistently with the values they were elected to
represent.”
The CHNZ leader said that this issue was an important one for any party that made its main platform the family. He said
that rather than treating it as a conscience measure, a pro-family party should be acting strongly and in unison to
protect Easter Sunday. McQueen stated
“ Easter Sunday is one of the last remaining three and a half days in our year that remains free of commercial
pressures. Surely the family-friendly response is to keep it that way – especially now that work / family life balance
is increasingly being recognised as a major issue in New Zealand.”