The Shop Trading Hours amendments bill, which allows shops to open on Easter Sunday, could result in a confusing mismatch of rules across the country, with 67 different local councils having different sets of rules, Retail NZ warned.

The bill will remove restrictions on trading on the religiously marked day, and will grant local authorities the power to decide the rules in their areas.

Retail NZ presented its case before the Parliament’s commerce committee today.  Greg Harford, general manager of public affairs at Retail NZ, lobbied that alcohol restrictions should be removed to be consistent, and argued Easter Sunday trading rules should apply at a national level to “remove bizarre anomalies that exist currently,” a report from Stuff.co.nz stated.

On the Retail NZ website, Harford said Retail NZ strongly supports the rights of retailers to choose their opening hours, but that they don’t think that every shop should be forced to open if it doesn’t make sense for that business.

“We see a few problems with the Bill,” he said. “We have 67 different local councils in New Zealand and each could take a different approach, meaning for example that shops in Porirua could open, but Tawa (part of Wellington City) might be forced to remain closed.”

Harford said they think that whether stores should open, employees should work, or customers should shop are decisions best made by the people concerned – not by the government.

The proposed changes could only increase confusion. Harford urged the committee to amend the bill to provide a single set of rules around the country which would permit shops to trade should they wish to do so.