Francesca Rudkin: We need to simplify Easter trading hours

If you live in a city, there is something quite special about waking up on Good Friday - to the sound of silence.

There are no cars on the road, no hum of traffic in the distance, no sound of people going about their day-to-day routines. My first thought on Friday was - it’s like Christmas Day. My second thought wasn’t as pleasant - it’s like lockdown. But the feeling was the same - how nice the world is when it pauses for a moment.

But as much as I appreciate these few days a year when many get to stop, the crazy rush, chock-a-block carparks and supermarkets on Thursday and Saturday made me wonder whether it’s worth it. 

We don’t seem to be able to cope, or prepare, for supermarkets to shut. If we weren’t down on hot cross buns, I certainly wouldn’t have made the trip to my local. It’s lovely having Friday and Sunday off, but not, if the days around it are a nightmare.

We have been talking about the inconsistencies and confusion around retail laws over Easter for as long as I can remember. What is open and shut depends on where you are in the country; sometimes where you are in a city. Don’t forget it’s the local authority which decides whether stores can open or not.  

It depends on what you’re selling. There are strange restrictions on what can be sold, and you must be sellin

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
If you live in a city, There's something quite special
about waking up on Good Friday to the sound of silence.
There are no cars on the road. There's no hum
of traffic in the distance, no sound of people going
about their day's day routines. My first thought on Friday
was like, oh, it's like Christmas Day, and then my
second thought was in as present, it's like lockdowns. But

(00:37):
the feeling was the same. How nice the world is
when it pauses for a moment. But as much as
I appreciate these few days a year when many get
to stop the crazy rush, the shock of block car
parks and the supermarkets on Thursday and Saturday made me
wonder whether it's worth it. We don't seem to be
able to cope or prepare for supermarkets to shut. If

(00:59):
we weren't down on hot Cross Barns, I certainly wouldn't
have made the trip to my local. It's lovely having
Friday and Saturday off, but not if the days around
it an absolute nightmare at the shops. We have been
talking about the inconsistencies and confusion around retail laws over
Easter for as long as I can remember, what is

(01:19):
open and shut depends on where you are in the country,
sometimes where you are in a city, because don't forget
it's the local authority which decides whether stores can open
or not. It depends on what you're selling. There are
strange restrictions on what can be sold, and you must
be selling something that people can't put off buying until
the next day, but you can get a haircut, and
just to make it even more confusing, the Shop Trading

(01:39):
Hours Act covers both public holidays and days at aren't
public holidays, such as Easter Sunday, even though we think
of it as a public holiday. I think it's time
to let people decide for themselves how they want to
spend their Easter, whether they open their businesses, work or shop,
or do none of the above and quietly go about
their day. We've been arguing forever the merits of a

(02:01):
day off and people being able to spend time with
family and friends or business has been able to make
the most of people wanting to spend money and get
jobs done. We have spoken about employees facing pressure from
their employers to work over Easter when they prefer not to,
and how there are plenty of employees who would happily
take the benefits of working a public holiday. And let's

(02:22):
not forget online retailers can sell you whatever they like
on these days. What a minefield of confusion. Let's just
bite the bullet, simplify the laws, make sure employees are protected,
and let businesses decide if they open or not and
get on like it's twenty twenty five and not nineteen ninety.

(02:43):
I'm also pleased that some sense is some common sense
has been shined around the purchase of alcohol over Easter. Labour.
MP Kreen mcinnaughty's build to change rules around alcohol sales
on Anzac Day Morning, Good Good Friday, Easter, Sunday and
Christmas was voted through its first reading a week or
so ago. He's happy to let Christmas slide by the
way currently people must order a meal before having an

(03:05):
alcoholic be a regid a restaurant or a pub. Once again,
it's all about simplifying the rules for both hospow tourists
and kiwi's catching up with family and friends at a
restaurant over the holiday period and there are a lot
of businesses who would appreciate it being simpler to make
a buck.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
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