Only five complaints of businesses opening during Easter weekend were lodged with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s labour inspectorate this year.
None were received about Wanaka businesses, despite many of the town’s shops opening on Good Friday.
Retailers in Wanaka were given approval to open legally on Easter Sunday for the first time after the Queenstown Lakes District Council voted earlier this year to relax the rules which had prohibited most retailers from opening.
Good Friday continues to be a restricted shop trading day.
Despite the low number of complaints, there would be no immediate push from the Government to allow councils to decide on Easter Friday trading, Minister for Small Business and Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean said.
The low number of complaints reflected a broad acceptance of the changes, but further changes to the rules concerning Easter trading were not needed at this time, Mrs Dean said.
There were still councils, such as the Dunedin City Council and the Waitaki District Council, which needed to get their heads around the current legislation before any further discussions were held, Mrs Dean said.
"I am very happy with the way things went this year and the low number of complaints reflects that the majority of people around this region and the rest of the country feel the same way too."
One Wanaka retailer who has been at the forefront of the push for legal trading at Easter says it is time for businesses to be given the freedom to choose if they open or not.
Wanaka’s Yes Photo and Digital store owner Steve Worley said the low number of complaints showed it was time for Good Friday to follow the same path as Easter Sunday. Mr Worley said he opened his store on Good Friday this year, just as he had for the past 16 years.
"On Monday, we weren’t struck by lighting. Everything continued on as normal. It seems we got the OK."
Most people were happy businesses opened over Easter and instead of making complaints were thankful, Mr Worley said.
"It just makes sense to open it up across the board. It would make everything so much easier, for the customers, for the staff and for the owners."
Since Parliament voted to hand the decision on Easter Sunday trading over to local authorities in August last year, 28 local councils have passed rules allowing trading on Easter Sunday.
Related Stories
Comments
There is no reason not to open shops on the so-called Good Friday - it is not a day that you find in the Bible it is just a day created by the religious. The early church never new of such a thing but people have made it up themselves - that goes for the whole weekend. We as Christians celebrate the passover as Jesus told us to do