Recent changes have relaxed alcohol sale restrictions, allowing venues already permitted to operate over Easter to serve alcohol without requiring customers to purchase a meal.
Alan McDonald, head of advocacy at the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA), expressed to RNZ that now is an opportune moment to re-evaluate the Shop Trading Hours Act.
“They’ve obviously simplified some of the alcohol laws because they were quite intricate—the Easter regulations are similarly complex,” he remarked.
“It’s overdue for reconsideration,” he added.
McDonald noted that Easter Sunday is not recognized as a statutory public holiday, and he believes that retailers should have the autonomy to decide whether to open on that day.
A revision to the Shop Trading Hours Act in 2016 allowed city and district councils to establish their own Easter Sunday trading policies, which McDonald said has contributed to the confusion.
“This leads to various inconsistencies. For instance, Queenstown, as I understand, opens, while Rotorua does not. Parts of Parnell in Auckland have permission to open, but other areas in Auckland do not.”
“This results in a complex array of options,” he stated.
There are three categories of exemptions to the shop closure rules:
• Tourist resorts like Taupō and Queenstown can open on Easter Sunday only.
• Areas where the local council has approved Easter Sunday trading.
Certain types of shops are exempt, including “small grocery shops,” service stations, takeaways, bars, cafes, duty-free stores, “shops providing services” (that do not sell goods), real estate agencies, pharmacies, garden centers (only on Easter Sunday), public transport terminals, souvenir shops, and exhibitions focused primarily on agriculture, art, industry, and science.
McDonald emphasized the need to standardize these regulations.
