PRESSURE will be ramped up on Premier Mark McGowan to give Perth more shopping hours, with Opposition Leader Mike Nahan declaring he will go to the next election with a policy to allow retailers to open 24 hours a day.

Dr Nahan is understood to have canvassed senior members of the Liberal Party about a significant policy shift that would end restricted trading.

Sources told The Sunday Times this week Dr Nahan was preparing to take his ambitious policy to the Liberal party room as early as this week.

And in a statement issued to The Sunday Times yesterday, he said the party’s retail policy would be one of total deregulation. It would “include safeguards to protect businesses in shopping centres from being forced to open, and also ensure a level playing field with respect to pay and conditions across the retail sector. But (it) would also lead to deregulation in line with most other States in Australia”.

“Premier McGowan appears oblivious to the fact WA retailers are struggling with a weak economy and that bricks-and-mortar retailers are facing extensive disruption as internet-based retail expands and consumer habits change,” Dr Nahan said.

“WA’s absurd retail trading regulations deny choice to consumers and unnecessarily restrict trade opportunities for retail outlets.”

Dr Nahan said no other State or Territory had such a restrictive regime that limited opportunities for employers, workers and customers, with NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and Northern Territory all choosing a system “almost entirely deregulated”.

“At a time when WA families are struggling with record rates of mortgage stress, the retail sector is flat and WA has the equal highest employment rate in the nation,” he said. “The time is right to give the retail sector a boost and commence de-regulation of trading hours.”

Dr Nahan said the Commercial Tenancies Act may need to be reviewed to ensure all operators were protected, while a disparity between penalty rates under Federal and State awards would need to be addressed.

Former premier Colin Barnett changed Perth’s trading hours to allow shops to remain open longer.

But Mr McGowan has so far refused to make more changes.

This is despite leading business and community representatives, including the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA and Perth City Council boss Eric Lumsden, pushing for more flexibility.

CCI boss Chris Rodwell said yesterday Mr McGowan’s stand against deregulation was costing the State about $200 million. He accused the McGowan Government of being “out of touch” with the expectations of tourists.

Dr Nahan said the McGowan Government was beholden to the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employee’s Union which opposed changes. He said it had “contributed some $200,000 to Mark McGowan’s 2017 election campaign”.

But union boss Peter O’Keefe said he had no influence over the Premier.

“We would be happy (for trading hours) to stay the way they are now, but I suspect we will see little change for the foreseeable future, although no doubt the Liberals will go to the next election with some form of increased trading hours, if not total deregulation,” he said.

“I have had discussions with Mark on what sort of things they might be prepared to do on trading hours. Mark is his own man on trading hours.”