Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This motion is all about the deal to extend trading hours in Adelaide. For a long time shop trading hours in Adelaide have been a contentious issue. My union has been at the heart of that; we even took a matter to the High Court some years ago to make sure that trading hours could not be extended without the consent of the parliament—a very important decision. Since then the issue of trading hours has been the subject of some debate in the community. That was why it was so good to see a deal being done by Business SA, the shop assistants union, the LHMU and Premier Weatherill to extend trading hours in the city. That provides an important boost for the city of Adelaide. It was supported by the local mayor and the city council. It gives the city of Adelaide a competitive advantage over the suburbs, in some ways. Being able to open and trade on public holidays makes for a vibrant city and particularly makes a lot of sense during Mad March. It is good news for the city of Adelaide.

Most importantly though, as part of the deal, after 7 pm, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve will become public holidays, and this is because Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are particular occasions that are important to families and important to communities. Those who work on those days deserve, firstly, to have the right to work or not to work and, secondly, penalty rates—some recompense for working antisocial hours. There is no more antisocial time to work than Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve. These are very important provisions and I hope to see them spread throughout the country. It is a shame that this has not been addressed until now.

We know that that is particularly important for my old union—the shop assistants union. It is important for night fillers; it is important for department store workers who have to set up for sales on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. People take for granted that all the shop assistants are at home. In actual fact, they are all setting up for the sales. They are all setting up for the post-Christmas period. It is very important for those workers. It is very important for fast food workers. We were just talking about young workers before. The coalition has a great deal of concern for them in terms of minimum shifts but not so much concern for them in terms of working late at night on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. It is important for those workers to get some small bonus for working these antisocial hours.

It is important to note that an agreement was made with Business SA. I see the member for Mayo here. He worked for Business SA many moons ago. That is his only private sector experience, except for his short time working in Mildura as a car park attendant or something like that.

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