Posted on: 12 March 2024
As South Australia swelters, the Adelaide Cup public holiday is another reminder of the need for modern and sensible shop trading laws.
Under the Malinauskas Labor Government, people will today be able to go to hardware stores, bottle shops, furniture stores – they can purchase homewares, clothing and toys.
However, shops with a retail floor area above 200m2 and supermarkets with a retail floor area above 400m2 in the Greater Adelaide area are unable to trade today. They are unable to provide hours to casual workers looking to earn penalty rates or serve customers looking to beat the heat.
This means South Australians are left in a ridiculous situation where they can buy a cold slab of beer, but not a packet of Zooper Doopers.
Shadow Treasurer Matt Cowdrey said: “On a day like the Adelaide Cup, where we are encouraging people to go to the races, visit our wineries, and pop down to the beach and when we have events like the Fringe, Adelaide Festival & Womad – not having our supermarkets open seems backwards.”
“Particularly with so many interstate visitors in town, who are used to that option in modern cities,” Mr Cowdrey said.
“Does Peter Malinauskas honestly believe it makes sense that you can go and purchase a cold slab of beer but not a pack a of Zooper Doopers for the kids? Labor hasn’t got the balance right.”
“Extreme weather days such as today also highlight the importance of having easy access to supermarkets to purchase ice, cold drinks, ice blocks and other essentials. The only people standing in the way of having supermarkets open and air conditioned are Peter Malinauskas and his backwards Labor Government.”