Adelaide retailers will be adversely affected by the South Australian government’s Easter shop trading hours regime, the National Retail Association warned.
This Easter and Anzac Day, which makes five consecutive public holiday days, will see a majority of Adelaide’s retailers closed for four of the five days, including for a three consecutive day period.
This comes after the South Australian government announced that Adelaide CBD retailers will be able to trade on Tuesday April 26 but suburban retailers will be forced to close.
NRA executive director Gary Black said the forced closure will result in the loss of GST revenue to the state, lost employment and wages opportunities for consumers, and lost revenues for retailers.
“It is completely dysfunctional to force shops to close during periods when customers want to shop,” Black said.
“The lost opportunity in retail will also negatively impact related sectors because the retail sector has one of the highest multiplier effects across the economy.
According to the NRA, no other capital city in the country will face a five day closure across the Easter break.
“The Easter weekend is the most concentrated holiday and leisure period of the year. The decision by the SA Government to only permit limited trading in the Adelaide CBD on Tuesday 26 April will cause substantial inconvenience to consumers over this period as they will be unable to purchase essential items or undertake leisure shopping for three consecutive days," Black said.
"Additionally, suburban retailers are being discriminated against by the Government’s decision."