Ex-Productivity Commissioner Judith Sloan has a great post over at Catallaxy Files in which she criticises Queensland’s antiquated regulations around retail trading hours (Beautiful one day, closed the next). She also notices a perverse outcome of the simplification of awards applying to the hospitality sector:

We are in Queensland for Easter and feel quite perplexed about the trading hours: shops/supermarkets are closed for most of the break (Friday, Sunday and Monday) but I guess this is the result of the state government’s trading laws.

When I was buying coffee this morning, however, I read an article in the Courier Mail (OK, but that was the only newspaper there) about the impact of ‘modern’ awards on the ability of some restaurants to open during the break: evidently, the relevant ‘modern’ award specifies two-and-half-times normal rates for public holiday work.  As a result, some very well-known and large restaurants in Brisbane will not be open – in some cases, for the first time.