Hardware stores would be among the operators set to benefit from the new trading hours. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was about giving people a choice when it came to spending their money. "By giving people a choice, that means thousands of jobs for Queenslanders," she said. Ms Palaszczuk said there were too many inconsistencies in trading hours across the state. "Have you ever wondered why some of the hardware stores are not open at 6am, when you want to go there, get some stuff and do it early in the morning?" she said.

"Well, my government is determined to fix that. "We will allow hardware stores across the state to open from 6am. This means tradies, men who are handymen at home, families, women who want to go and get plants to do the gardening early in the morning, can go early, go home and be able to undertake their works." Mr Nicholls said the report needed to be released before it could be fully assessed. "With Labor, as always, the devil is in the detail and I would love to see – and I think all Queenslanders, including shopkeepers – would love to see the details of the report," he said. "We're only hearing snippets of it; we'll wait to see what the full report says in relation to trading hours and the impact it will have on shops and small businesses across the state."

Employment and Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace said the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission would still have a role, despite trading hours historically forming a large part of its purview. "If we standardise, it will mean the QIRC may be determining other issues rather than the hours that the shops can operate," she said. "We have this complex 99 – nearly 100 – different hours and zones throughout the state. "For example, in Townsville you can't open until 11 on a Sunday. In Mackay, I think it's 10.30 and in another area it's 10 o'clock. "We want to standardise those hours so for consumers, the complexity is gone and they know exactly what the hours are."

Ms Grace said while standardised hours were not compulsory, it would give businesses and consumers alike more flexibility. "It's very interesting that you can buy a boat on a Sunday, but you can't buy a car or a caravan," she said. "So we are working towards saying 'is that really, in a modern lifestyle, what the consumer wants?'. "We want to bring retail stores and the ability to purchase goods into a modern lifestyle and a modern economy. "No one has tackled this for 20 years."

The retail trade sector was Queensland's second-largest employer, with a 255,000-strong workforce and a $9.9 billion payroll. Ms Grace said employees would not be forced into working additional hours that could result from increased trading hours.