Solution to Easter trading laws – ignore them
Wanaka may seem an unlikely setting for mass civil disobedience, but every Easter the scenic alpine town, where the principal industry is leisure, thumbs its nose at Wellington lawmakers.
Although the restaurants, cafes and petrol stations are permitted to open on Good Friday under New Zealand’s complex system of exemptions, practically every other retail business in Otago’s fourth largest town joins in.
Unlike Queenstown, less than an hour away by car, Wanaka does not have a specific exemption as a tourism town, even though the town is swarming with campervans and hire cars, part of a nationwide boom in visitor numbers.
Apart from banks and real estate agent offices (rather confusingly, as real estate agents are not covered by Easter trading legislation) staying closed, there were few shops which did not open on Friday, the most holy day of the Easter period to Christians.
As well as clothing retailers and design shops (which might tenuously argue that they could be considered souvenir shops), it was easy to buy a season ticket for one of the local ski fields.
Perhaps the ski fields would argue they have an exemption as a shop which provides a ‘‘service’’, an exemption created to cover the likes of video shops and hair dressers.
Trading in some shops was restricted in ways which simply underline how absurd New Zealand’s Easter trading laws are. The Wanaka Four Square (which is allowed to open under the ‘‘dairy’’ exemption even though it is more a small supermarket) was not selling Lotto tickets, as this is not allowed.
But anyone determined to gamble could have simply bought a ticket on the Lotto website, which was operating unaffected.
For the avoidance of doubt, there was no sign that any of the businesses were defying restrictions on alcohol.
Bar staff – as they were no doubt doing across New Zealand – explained the complex formula of what exactly amounted to a substantial meal, which would allow patrons to drink for an hour before, and an hour after, their meal.
Whether those meals were actually eaten was a different matter.
There is good reason for shops to open.
Although opponents of Easter trading reform point to the need for Kiwis to spend time with their families, in many areas the demand for retail is because people are spending time with families.
Every year thousands of holiday-makers from the wider region flock to the town for what could be the last chance to enjoy good weather before winter.
This is especially in even years, when tens of thousands more arrive for the biennial Warbirds over Wanaka airshow and 2018 was no exception.
With so many visitors, retailers have been flouting the law for as long as anyone can remember. ‘‘They’ve been doing that for years,’’ Jacqui Dean, the MP for Waitaki, a vast electorate which includes Wanaka, said in anticipation of the Good Friday defiance.
Dean twice attempted to pass legislation reforming Easter trading restrictions, but was twice defeated by what she says was a combination of MPs who refused to support change based on personal religious beliefs and those who refused on the basis of workers’ rights.
Instead the town appears to rely on pretence.
Rather than reform the law, it seems Wellington was simply prepared to pretend no one was flouting it.
While Dean denied past media reports that she had explicitly told Wanaka retailers that there would be no labour inspectors in the region in previous years, she said ‘‘there certainly were conversations in and around Wanaka in the retail community’’.
Whether the new Labourled Government has directed labour inspectors to act differently is unclear.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment could not say this week if there had been any prosecutions for Easter trading law violations, anywhere in New Zealand, with Labour Inspectorate regional manager David Milne saying information would be gathered in the coming weeks. Instead of confronting the issue, the former National government simply passed the buck, giving councils the power to make decisions in local communities on Easter Sunday.
Although this has led to some change, the overall picture has only become more confused, with neighbouring districts often having different policies.
A small number of councils have refused to even consider the issue.
This appears to be one area where the new Government may intervene, with Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Iain Lees-Galloway saying the ‘‘situation that we’ve inherited . . . is not satisfactory’’.
While it appears to fall below other priorities, there may be changes made to at least ensure the system is consistent across the country, eventually.
But the chance of real reform appears slim, with politicians of both sides tending to see limited political gain compared to the intense pressure from motivated interest groups.
Instead, the solution for retailers determined to open may be to simply do as they do in Wanaka.
Simply ignore the law.