❓ Mr. Ripper questions Premier Barnett's change in stance on extended weeknight retail trading hours since 2003. Barnett defends his position by citing the passage of time and a consistent advocacy for phased deregulation, framing the issue as a matter of consumer choice and contrasting it with the Labor Party's stance.
AnsweredQoN 621Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
EXTENDED WEEKNIGHT RETAIL TRADING HOURS
I have a supplementary question. Why did the Premier not answer my question about what has changed since 2003 when he personally voted against this proposition for nine o’clock weeknight trading? Mr C.J. BARNETT
I have a supplementary question. Why did the Premier not answer my question about what has changed since 2003 when he personally voted against this proposition for nine o’clock weeknight trading? Mr C.J. BARNETT
AnswerView source ↗
What has changed since 2003 is six years. It is 2009. That is one change. The other thing is that members will find, if I spoke in that debate, that I would have talked about orderly, phased deregulation. I had a fair bit to do with tourism precincts coming into place in the 1990s. Indeed, it was Liberal governments that brought about staged deregulation. The next obvious step to take is this radical, dramatic step of an extra 12 hours of night shopping, if we want to! The Labor Party cannot bring itself to that point. This bill will come on for debate and it will stay on for debate. We will take it right through to the election. We will go to the election in every one of Labor’s seats, not arguing, but simply saying to people, “Vote Liberal and you’ll have a choice. We actually think you’re grown up. We think you can make a decision whether you go shopping or not.”
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: What has changed since 2003 is six years. It is 2009. That is one change. The other thing is that members will find, if I spoke in that debate, that I would have talked about orderly, phased deregulation. I had a fair bit to do with tourism precincts coming into place in the 1990s. Indeed, it was Liberal governments that brought about staged deregulation. The next obvious step to take is this radical, dramatic step of an extra 12 hours of night shopping, if we want to! The Labor Party cannot bring itself to that point. This bill will come on for debate and it will stay on for debate. We will take it right through to the election. We will go to the election in every one of Labor’s seats, not arguing, but simply saying to people, “Vote Liberal and you’ll have a choice. We actually think you’re grown up. We think you can make a decision whether you go shopping or not.”
What has changed since 2003 is six years. It is 2009. That is one change. The other thing is that members will find, if I spoke in that debate, that I would have talked about orderly, phased deregulation. I had a fair bit to do with tourism precincts coming into place in the 1990s. Indeed, it was Liberal governments that brought about staged deregulation. The next obvious step to take is this radical, dramatic step of an extra 12 hours of night shopping, if we want to! The Labor Party cannot bring itself to that point. This bill will come on for debate and it will stay on for debate. We will take it right through to the election. We will go to the election in every one of Labor’s seats, not arguing, but simply saying to people, “Vote Liberal and you’ll have a choice. We actually think you’re grown up. We think you can make a decision whether you go shopping or not.”
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: What has changed since 2003 is six years. It is 2009. That is one change. The other thing is that members will find, if I spoke in that debate, that I would have talked about orderly, phased deregulation. I had a fair bit to do with tourism precincts coming into place in the 1990s. Indeed, it was Liberal governments that brought about staged deregulation. The next obvious step to take is this radical, dramatic step of an extra 12 hours of night shopping, if we want to! The Labor Party cannot bring itself to that point. This bill will come on for debate and it will stay on for debate. We will take it right through to the election. We will go to the election in every one of Labor’s seats, not arguing, but simply saying to people, “Vote Liberal and you’ll have a choice. We actually think you’re grown up. We think you can make a decision whether you go shopping or not.”
What has changed since 2003 is six years. It is 2009. That is one change. The other thing is that members will find, if I spoke in that debate, that I would have talked about orderly, phased deregulation. I had a fair bit to do with tourism precincts coming into place in the 1990s. Indeed, it was Liberal governments that brought about staged deregulation. The next obvious step to take is this radical, dramatic step of an extra 12 hours of night shopping, if we want to! The Labor Party cannot bring itself to that point. This bill will come on for debate and it will stay on for debate. We will take it right through to the election. We will go to the election in every one of Labor’s seats, not arguing, but simply saying to people, “Vote Liberal and you’ll have a choice. We actually think you’re grown up. We think you can make a decision whether you go shopping or not.”
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