POLITICIAN CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT SMALL BUSINESSES
CHANGING the state’s trading laws will kill off small business owners in regional centres, says Traeger MP Robbie Katter.
He was lobbying residents in towns such as Charters Towers to speak up to ensure the state’s trading hours laws were not changed.
Mr Katter said major corporate retailers including Woolworths and
Coles had a major impact on small retailers and country towns such as Charters Towers would be severely impacted if the big chains were allowed to trade on Sundays.
Speaking in response to a Parliamentary Inquiry into the trading laws, Mr Katter said there was a nationwide shortage of butcher trainees and this served as a massive red light to any plans by the government to further deregulate the laws.
He said the viability of independently-owned butcher shops was a symptom of the deregulation issue.
“The state’s trading hours laws were reformed by the Palaszczuk Labor government in 2017,” Mr Katter said.
“Katter’s Australian Party fought hard at this time to ensure that the integrity and viability of small and medium-sized businesses in rural and regional communities was
protected as much as possible.
“These efforts were off the back of an overwhelming push from the small business community in regional locations, particularly my home of Mount Isa, who called for Sunday and public holiday trade to be limited to just the smaller operators.
“This is a vital component to their ongoing viability, and protects against monopolisation of our small economies.”
Mr Katter said the independent parties had “held the line” against Sunday trading for years, freeing up the residents to enjoy social events and retain the local economy that was comprised of independent, small operators.
Mr Katter called on small businesses and locals to voice their support for these protections. Charters Towers is one of 21 regional locations where Sunday trading for major retailers remains restricted.