Steve Worley

Calls for greater consistency in Easter trading laws were being aired again yesterday as some Wanaka traders continued their tradition of defying the law.

Last night, the Department of Labour advised it had made six visits to shops in the South Island to places observed open and trading.

Information on the location of the shops was withheld by the department because prosecutions were still to be considered.

Inspectors found 19 shops trading throughout the country, the department said.

Shops risk a fine of up to $1000 by opening.

One retailer who has opened his store every Good Friday for the past 11 years and been fined twice is Wanaka Kodak owner and manager Steve Worley.

"We have to be open. There's a major photographic event on in town," he said, referring to the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow, which has attracted thousands of tourists this weekend.

Mr Worley believed it "looked bad" for Wanaka if he was not able to provide a service many people required.

He had emailed Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean to see if a petition from retailers would help change the Shop Trading Hours Repeal Act 1990, which specifies three and a-half days each year on which most New Zealand retailers must close: Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and until 1pm on Anzac Day.

Mrs Dean is readying another attempt to change the law - this time in the form of a local authority Bill - after her own private member's Bill was defeated 87-34 in May 2007.

The new Bill will seek to extend an existing exemption, which applies to Queenstown and allows retailers there to trade during Easter, to apply across the whole of the Queenstown Lakes district, Mrs Dean said.

Mr Worley said he hoped the change of Government would promote a rethinking of the issue.

"We are in a recession and we need every dollar we can get under a trading point of view."

Most of Helwick St's clothing stores were open for business and business was good, Cherry manager Lara James said.

The fashion store had been "really busy".

The Department of Labour had not visited by 1pm, but she said any fine would be outweighed by yesterday's profits.

"Hopefully, we don't get fined because we are still a tourist town like Queenstown."

Auckland Newmarket Business Association chief executive Cameron Brewer said yesterday the laws were absurd and needed to be updated.

Wanaka would have 80,000 visitors over the weekend, yet businesses that wanted to service the public could only do so by breaking the law.

There needed to be an exemption programme which enabled places like Wanaka to remain open.

There needed to be consistency for tourist towns.

He also questioned the practice of prosecuting shops that opened against the rules, describing it as a "futile and costly exercise and a complete farce".

National Distribution Union vice-president Margaret Dornan said keeping Easter trading laws were critical so workers could have guaranteed time off.

"You've only got three and a-half days a year when shops aren't open. Retail workers I speak to ask when they are supposed to get some time off with their family if shops opened over Easter," she said.

Labour Department inspectors said they found five shops trading in Auckland and four in Wellington. One shop was open and trading in Hamilton, one in Napier and one in Palmerston North.



HOLIDAY TRADING

• Most New Zealand retailers must close on Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and until 1pm on Anzac Day.

• Shops which may open include dairies, service stations, cafes and shops providing services rather than goods, such as hairdressers, pharmacies and souvenir shops.

• Conditions apply to what may be sold.

• Garden centres are allowed to open on Easter Sunday but not the other days.

• Tourist towns such as Taupo and Queenstown have some exemptions to the restrictions.

- Additional reporting by NZPA.