WITH Sunday trading to be open to all Bunbury general retailers next year, some industry groups hope this will bring Perth metropolitan areas a step closer to more flexible trading hours.
WITH Sunday trading to be open to all Bunbury general retailers next year, some industry groups hope this will bring Perth metropolitan areas a step closer to more flexible trading hours.
Minister of commerce Troy Buswell last week announced Bunbury would receive a ministerial exemption from trading hours restrictions.
Mr Buswell's decision follows Bunbury's application in April to the previous government.
Formalities for the approval were completed last July, only requiring the final approval by the then consumer protection minister Sheila McHale.
Property Council of Western Australia executive director Joe Lenzo believes the approval of Sunday trading for Bunbury is a positive step for Perth.
"There is only that small area of Perth metro that are not allowed to Sunday trading while the rest of the state, the rest of the country and the rest of the world are all doing it," Mr Lenzo said.
Bunbury joins seventeen other regional municipalities and all WA regions that fall north of the 26th parallel, which include the Pilbara and Kimberley regions.
Mr Buswell told WA Business News that the government decision doesn't compel businesses to open on Sunday and Bunbury will function on a similar model as Busselton or other municipalities that have enjoyed the exemption.
But, he said the Bunbury decision would not affect the current situation for the Perth metro area.
"From a government point of view there is no link between the process in Perth and Bunbury... any changes to Perth [trading hours restrictions] will be done through a consultative process," Mr Buswell said.
Perth CBD and Fremantle retail outlets are currently allowed to open on Sunday because of their tourism precincts value.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA executive director of industry policy Trevor Lovelle said that with retail trading being a signature issue for the chamber, he was pleased that Bunbury will be able to enjoy a new trade environment.
"I hope those changes can be applied in the Perth metro regions...they currently have outdated rules which provide more complication," he said.
"We should just allow stores to open when they see fit."
While the CCI favours the change, Bunbury Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Allan Birrell said up to 85 per cent of retailers were opposed to deregulated trading hours last April when the issue last went to council.
The Bunbury decision may have an influence on other major regional centres, including Albany and Geraldton-Greenough, which do not have deregulated trading hours.
Seven-day trading was narrowly rejected by Albany residents in a 2005 referendum and the issue has not been formally raised by the city since.
Retail trading hours emerged again as a political issue shortly after Colin Barnett was elected premier last month, when Woolworths chief executive Michael Luscombe called for the new government to deregulate retail trading.
Mr Barnett said he would meet with Mr Luscombe and other interested groups, but would not budge on his election position to extend weekday trading without going down the path of general Sunday trading
