Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas wants a “special extended trading hours zone” for retailers in the Perth CBD, allowing them to stay open after 5pm on weekends.
Mr Zempilas said the worldwide sell by the WA Government “to come and visit the dream State” was being marred by restricted trading hours in the CBD.
He said the 5pm shutdown for Perth CBD retailers on Saturdays and Sundays was a joke as shoppers were forced to go online to make the most of the Black Friday sales and families started filling their Christmas stockings.
“I have asked the Premier to consider a special extended trading hours zone for retailers in the CBD on Saturday and Sunday only,” Mr Zempilas told The Sunday Times.
“Just let the shops in the city open after 5pm on the weekend — not every day and not open earlier, just be allowed to close later on Saturday and Sunday.”
Perth has some of the most antiquated shopping hours in Australia.
Perth shops can open from 8am-9pm on weekdays, from 8am-5pm on a Saturday, and from 11am-5pm on a Sunday.
Mr Zempilas has previously tried to convince the McGowan Government to allow shops to open earlier on a Sunday.
But this has fallen on deaf ears.
The South Australian Parliament has passed new laws to allow shops to open at 9am on Sundays instead of 11am.
“As it stands, the State Government is spending millions of dollars inviting people around the world to come and visit WA, the dream State, but when they get here they find shops in the capital city are shut at 5pm on weekends — that’s not a dream, that’s a nightmare for visitors,” Mr Zempilas said.
“It doesn’t make sense. It’s a mixed and totally out-of-kilter with the sort of always-on, vibrant, international Perth City we are striving to create.”
Just recently, the State Government announced a $15 million intrastate, interstate and international campaign — Walking on a Dream — to entice travellers back to WA following COVID-19 border closures that ended in March.
Debate over extending Perth shopping hours has raged for years, with the premier refusing to budge on the issue.
The influential Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association union is strongly opposed to extended shopping hours.
Liberal shadow treasurer Steve Thomas has called for a 9am opening time for Perth shops — a view supported by Mr Zempilas.
“I still believe ultimately the traders should be able to decide their own opening hours in the city — if that means they want to open at 9am on a weekend then they should be able to,” Mr Zempilas said.
In country WA, communities can shop whenever they like — as long as they get approval from their respective councils.
But in Perth, the Government defines shopping hours.
“We’re flying people to Perth direct from Rome and outside of the Christmas period, on a Saturday night, the shops shut at 5pm,” Mr Zempilas said.
“We have to ask ourselves if that’s the sort of impression we want to leave.”
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