HARVEY Norman franchisees in Western Australia will keep the pressure on the Gallop Government over the deregulation of trading hours via a mainstream press advertising campaign.
Organised by lobby group Franchisees Against Inequitable Retailing, the advertisements will attack what FAIR claims is the Government’s failure to adopt fair retailing laws.
FAIR spokesman Paul Plowman is planning a three-week press campaign and also wants to place ads in a range of papers, including The West Australian, The Sunday Times, Community Newspapers, and WA Business News.
“There are a couple of elements to the campaign,” Mr Plowman said.
“One is the nonsense that Fremantle and Perth are the tourism zones for Sunday trading. The Government is not acknowledging that many businesses, and lots in the homewares category, open outside those areas open on Sundays.”
He said the ads were not calling for wholesale deregulation but to push for FAIR’s submission for a special homewares sub-category in the retail trading laws.
WA Retail and Small Business Association president Brett Dunstone said his organisation, which opposes FAIR’s submission and any deregulation of WA’s trading laws, had no plans to launch an advertising campaign, but would concentrate its efforts on lobbying government.