INDEPENDENT MP Troy Bell will back the Liberal Party’s proposed shop trading hour reform, but will seek an exclusion for vehicle dealers from opening on Sundays and public holidays.
Under the current legislation, stores selling boats and motor vehicles in metropolitan Adelaide and Millicent are unable to open on Sundays or any full day public holiday.
Although Mount Gambier’s traders have been free to open their doors since 2003, Mr Bell foreshadowed moving an amendment to the Liberals’ total deregulation policy to protect local dealers.
Mr Bell said the Motor Traders Association of South Australia had highlighted implications of allowing Adelaide’s retail traders to open on Sundays on regional traders.
Motor Trader Association chief executive Paul Unerkov said deregulating metropolitan car dealers would result in a loss of revenue for regional dealerships with consumers potentially travelling to Adelaide to purchase vehicles.
Mr Unerkov said regional dealerships “would be forced” to be open on Sundays in order to compete with metropolitan retailers.
“Many automotive families already sacrifice watching their children’s Saturday morning sport and taking mums and dads away from their families on a Sunday will only make it tougher,” he said.
“Good staff will leave the industry as the challenge to find a work life balance further deteriorates.
“It is already a challenge for dealerships to prevent quality staff from leaving due to the need to open on Saturdays.
“This will further diminish the buying experience for consumers.”
While pledging to seek an exemption for motor traders, Mr Bell would not be drawn on commenting about the impact of total deregulation in Millicent, which is the only town in regional South Australia that has regulated trading hours.
The town has twice voted to keep the strict retail hours, most recently in February 2017 when almost 80pc of respondents voted against changes to opening hours.
Member for MacKillop Nick McBride has pledged to seek an exclusion for the town in the party room, but has ruled out crossing the floor and voting against his party if unsuccessful.
Mr Bell said it would be “hypocritical” for him to not back the government’s proposed legislative change given Mount Gambier’s long deregulated status.
“I know there are some issues, but I think deregulation works well in Mount Gambier,” he said.
“We have a population size that can handle deregulated shopping hours.
“I don’t profess to have any knowledge on areas that may not have the population to accommodate small and large retailers.”
While the Liberal Party’s signature policy will get through the Lower House with a majority, it is not likely to pass in the Legislative Council without the support of at least three non-government crossbenchers.
Deregulation is opposed by Labor and the two Greens upper house members.
SA-Best MLC’s Frank Pangallo and Connie Bonaros and independent MLC John Darley have indicated they are unlikely to back total deregulation.
