At Easter time, our area has become synonymous with two particular headline grabbers: the amazing biennial Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow … and retailers’ rebellion over laws that saw all Queenstown businesses free to open, but the rest of Central Otago-Lakes District forced to close – or trade illegally.
In what is something of a partial victory, shops in Wanaka and the rest of the Queenstown-Lakes District Council area, together with retailers in the Central Otago District Council catchment, can now fling open their doors this Easter Sunday, and trade without fear of prosecution. However, read on, as there some very important riders.
While the controversy over Easter trading is pretty well known around the country, its origins are, perhaps, less so.
Where did it start?
The requirement to close is based on legislation that imposed trading restrictions on three and a-half days a year: Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day (until 1pm), and Christmas Day
1977 – it was the year Rod Stewart topped the top-100 billboard with Tonight’s the Night … and it was also the year the Government brought us the since-repealed Shop Trading Hours Act, which allowed for exemptions around those holiday trading restrictions.
But, everything was not, as Rod had crooned, gonna be alright, at least as many local retailers were concerned. In the 1980’s, under the 1977 legislation, Queenstown was granted exemptions removing any restrictions around Easter trading in the town, and Stage 1 of Pembroke Mall, in Wanaka, was granted an exemption to open between 7am and 9pm on statutory holidays, except for Christmas Day and Good Friday. Unfortunately, the rest of the nearby tourist hotspots were required to stay shut.
Over the years, this has stuck increasingly in the craw of Queenstown Lakes-Central Otago retailers outside Queenstown, itself. With every Warbirds weekend in recent years, Wanaka retailers’ frustrations seemed to escalate. Why, they asked, does Queenstown qualify for exemptions when it has no dedicated Easter event; yet, we’re catering for thousands upon thousands of visitors for Warbirds, and the law tells us we must close?
As anyone who lives in our parts or follows the news knows, many Wanaka retailers openly flouted the law. Some were prosecuted. For many, however, it was simple: they saw the law as an ass, and the day’s takings dwarfed many times over the $1000 maximum fine.
The business community lobbied. And lobbied. That translated into various amendment bills being put before parliament – all were voted down, bar one back in 2001, which paved the way for garden centres to open on Easter Sundays.
Progress … at last
Finally, the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990 was amended in 2016, allowing councils to decide whether retailers in their district could open on Easter Sunday.
The Queenstown-Lakes District Council had been under considerable pressure from the local community to address the inequity of Queenstown being allowed to open and the majority of Wanaka being forced to close. So, with the ability to create a bylaw to address the unfair advantage, the council adopted a proposed Local Easter Sunday Shop Trading Policy to allow all shops within its district to open on Easter Sundays. This was put out for public consultation, drawing 33 submissions: 75 percent supported the proposed policy, 21 percent disagreed and 3 percent were neutral. Last month, the ayes won.
The Central Otago District Council adopted an identical policy with the same reasoning as Queenstown-Lakes: catering for the large number of tourists is really important.
But, wait, there’s more …
It’s imperative employers understand, under the changes, their employees must be given the option not to work on Easter Sunday, and have the right to refuse to work without any repercussions to their employment relationship. If you’re looking at opening this weekend, and you don’t understand your obligations to your staff on this one, my advice would be to contact your lawyer as soon as possible.
Businesses also need to be clear this change applies to Easter Sunday only – the restrictions around Good Friday, Anzac Day (until 1pm) and Christmas Day remain firmly in place. And, yes, that’s even though Queenstown continues to still enjoy exemptions to the traditional trading restriction for these days.