SUNDAY TRADING — EFFECT ON BUSINESS
1050. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the Minister for Commerce:
Much has been made in the mainstream press about the supposed
success of Sunday trading. Claims have been made about an overall increase in
sales and the creation of new jobs, but I have seen little, if any, celebration
from the small business sector. Can the minister confirm that the only real
winners in the retail sector are WA's biggest businesses?
Hon
SIMON O'BRIEN replied:
I thank the honourable member for her question.
I am glad that she is joining Hon Ken Travers in noting a valuable initiative that has been welcomed
by a large part of the Western Australian community.
Hon Ken Travers: When and if you deliver it we'll
say ''Well done''.
Hon SIMON O'BRIEN: Cutting through the sour grapes, the first
three months of the Sunday trading regime that was introduced has been
overwhelmingly successful; indeed, more so than we had anticipated. I have
released figures, and Milton Cockburn and others in the sector have also
released their figures, which show that hour for hour Sunday is now the most
popular trading day of the week. The figures show that about 20 000 shoppers
are going through the average shopping centre in Western Australia that used to
be shut on Sunday. Consumer throughput in those shopping centres has increased
by seven per cent in the first month, by nine per cent in the second month, and
has continued at nine per cent in the first couple of weeks of November. We are
finding that between 80 and 95 per cent of shops in those centres are now
opening. More shops are opening each Sunday because they are observing the
consumer flow around them and identifying that this is when their customers
want to be served, and that there is a lot more business—and there is
more business! It appears that the size of the pie has increased between
about three and six per cent. Consumers are uncorking their wallets a little
more.
To see that consumers are actually spending a bit more is
news in a sector that has been doing it tough in recent times. It shows that it
was not the case that there was only a limited consumer dollar around. Sunday
trading has generated further income. Yes, there are a lot of very successful
stories. If the member wants to be in step with mainstream community in Western
Australia, I suggest she put her sour grapes to one side and recognise what the
community wants.