It was great to read in today’s Courier-Mail that the big retailers (Coles, Woolies, etc) are leading a push for deregulated trading hours in Queensland, which would bring us into line with most other States:

Queensland trading hours to be expanded in push by retail giants

This would be a big win for consumers who are inconvenienced by our antiquated regulations around trading hours, but the push will be strongly resisted by both smaller retailers (e.g. IGA), motivated by self-interest, and unions, who (sincerely) are worried about family un-friendly working hours, although community attitudes toward what working hours are acceptable have shifted in recent decades.

It’s probably not a good sign for the big retailers that the Attorney-General (and Premier-in-waiting) Cameron Dick has stated:

“Our current system strikes the right balance between the interests of retailers and the interests of workers, with any decision being made by the independent umpire and without any interference from politicians.”

Of course it comes down to a judgment about what the community believes is the right balance between our desire to shop 24/7 and concerns about the viability of corner stores and family un-friendly working hours.  At the very least, the Government should launch a public inquiry into retail trading hours to consider all the facts and different viewpoints in the Queensland community.

Previous Queensland Economy Watch post:

Time to deregulate retail trading hours