QUEENSLANDERS in the state’s southeast will be able to shop longer and later under a radical plan to let retailers trade for 14 hours a day, six days a week.

The National Retail Association will today launch a legal bid to overhaul trading hours across the southeast, allowing stores from Coolangatta to Noosa to open from 7am to 9pm, Monday to Saturday.

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The proposal, which covers Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan and the Gold and Sunshine coasts, is a fresh push to clarify Queensland’s garbled trading-hours regime, which costs the state more than $100 million in revenue and leaves shoppers stranded outside supermarkets every Saturday.

But Premier Campbell Newman said he had significant concerns about the bid to extend retail hours.

“It sounds good in theory and I know there are people who support it but what about small retailers,” he said.

“Large supermarket chains can wipe out your corner stores, your little independent supermarkets and then you actually less service and ultimately a lack of competition and potentially higher prices so I think we need to tread carefully.

“The way this is being done by the retailers association is the right way to do it. It means that the independent umpire, the QIRC, gets to have a say and gets to review it and they’ll make a decision devoid of politics and politicians.”

National Retail Association chief Trevor Evans said the proposal was a “clean-up job” aimed at simplifying the current system, where the state is carved up into more than 50 different trading zones.

“We’re hoping to reduce the red tape and the confusion that currently exists,” Mr Evans said. “The 5pm close on Saturdays has not been reviewed in 20 years – and it’s fair to say consumer habits have changed.”

Ten zones are included in the proposal, which covers a broad range of medium and large retailers, including supermarkets, department stores, fashion and furniture retailers.

In the Brisbane CBD alone, retailers within a 5km radius fall within five distinct zones with different hours permitted, leading to customer confusion and operational headaches for businesses.

Mr Evans said the proposed changes would cut the state’s trading-hours red tape by a third, create an estimated 1000 jobs and provide a $111 million boost to the economy.

He said consumers were also demanding more flexible hours, with modern families less likely to have time to shop during the day on Saturday.

“Retailers are entirely concerned with what their customers are telling them (and) we definitely see there’s much more demand for shopping in the afternoons and evenings on Saturday,” Mr Evans said.

Sunday trading would remain unchanged.

The proposal will be lodged today at the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, the body responsible for hearing trading-hours cases.

“This is very much a test case for the Commission,” said Mr Evans. “We believe the Commission does have the jurisdiction to simplify and fix the trading hours rules (and) we believe there’s strong evidence from businesses and more importantly from the public and customers that will convince the commission that this is the right thing to do.”

The application is expected to face opposition from unions and smaller retailers while the Newman Government has been lukewarm about supporting any change to the regime.

Research analyst Maddy Coates, 30, said she had found herself stranded outside locked supermarkets on the weekend and came specifically to the Coles in New Farm because it was open until 9pm most days.