MILLICENT was the only township in South Australia where regulated shops had to remain shut on Boxing Day.
Under laws originating in the 1920s, Woolworths, Target and Foster’s Foodland could not open on the December 26 public holiday which fell on a Wednesday.
As usual, the unregulated shops in Millicent were allowed to trade on Boxing Day but only a few did, including service stations and the IGA seven-day supermarket.
Foster’s Foodland proprietor Brian Foster said he agreed with the ban which kept the three Millicent regulated shops shut.
“I believe that a group like the Millicent Business Community Association is in a better place to judge the shopping needs of Millicent than anyone in Adelaide,” Mr Foster said.
“People have enough food to carry over from Christmas and do not need to shop on Boxing Day.
“It is a public holiday and staff penalty rates would be prohibitive for us.
“There was no negative reaction from our customers regarding our shop being closed on Boxing Day.”
Acky’s Deli proprietor Mark Pilmore said Boxing Day and New Year’s Day were his best days of trading in the past 12 months for his George Street business.
“We were very busy on both days,” Mr Pilmore said.
“There was strong demand from locals and tourists for coffee and cake as well as other food lines.”
Woolworths manager Ashlee Ferguson declined to comment on the trading laws.
Millicent’s unique shopping status was due to a State Government decision to allow Boxing Day trading in the Adelaide suburbs for the first time.
Treasurer Rob Lucas said he made the decision to grant the special exemption to suburban shops under the Shop Trading Hours Act 1977 in response to “strong demand” from consumers and retailers to capitalise on an influx of tourists during the holiday season.
Premier Steven Marshall said consumers had “voted with their feet” on Boxing Day in the suburbs in overwhelming support of the State Government’s pro-deregulation agenda.
According to Mr Marshall, it showed why broader shop trading hours reform was required.
“The massive turnout is a ringing endorsement of the need for shop trading hours reform, “Mr Marshall said.
“To have South Australians and holiday tourists turn out in their thousands for Boxing Day sales sends a strong message to the Shoppies’ union and their mates in the Labor Party, led by former union boss Peter Malinauskas, that people are crying out for change.
“If Mr Malinauskas and the union bosses had their way, suburban retailers’ doors would have remained firmly shut on Boxing Day and South Australians would be denied the freedom of choice their interstate counterparts so happily enjoy.
“In contrast, we have said all along, if consumers want to shop, traders want to open and employees are willing and able to work, why should the law stop them?
“We said back in October when Labor voted down our Retail Trading bill, that we would continue to campaign for long-overdue shop trading hours reform.
“Greater freedom of choice in shopping hours is supported by 75 pc of South Australians.”
Shadow attorney-general Kyam Maher said shopping on Boxing Day would take shop employees away from their families.
According to Mr Maher, the State Government had used a “backdoor way” to provide an exemption which allowed major stores, large chains and international retailers to open on Boxing Day and came at the expense of family-owned businesses.
