Stuart Zullo 
Could our beloved public holidays such as Good Friday and Christmas Day, soon become just another retail day?
The NSW Government has recently made a move to try and bring in Boxing Day trading all throughout the state, and the big banks are lobbying for “ordinary working hours” to be extended so that they can trade on Saturday afternoons and all of Sundays.
While some people may say that they’d like to be able to visit the bank all weekend, or have Boxing Day trading everywhere – where do you draw the line?
On the one hand, longer working hours may be what the banking and retail sector need, after all they are now competing with online businesses that operate 24/7 and their profits are falling, which could mean that people are out of jobs if they don’t take some kind of action.
On the other hand though, do shoppers really want the extra trading hours, and what will the effects be on employees and small businesses if working hours are extended?
A lot of community groups are currently fighting against Boxing Day trading hours in NSW. It’s believed that workers will feel pressured to work on the public holiday and will miss out on valuable family time, which will have detrimental effects on the workers and their families.
Longer opening hours may also make it harder for small businesses to compete against major retailers, as they may find it difficult to afford to pay their staff penalty rates on public holidays.
It’s a tough situation and no doubt everyone will have a different opinion on whether or not Australian retailers should be extending their opening hours.
I’d like to hear what the Liverpool community thinks about allowing retailers to extend their hours and trade on public holidays – do you support the idea?