Below is a chart that John Cummings, president of the WA Independent Grocers Association (WAIGA) and chairman of the National Association of Retail Grocers of Australia (NARGA), doesn't want you to see. He, along with disgraced former premier Brian Burke, campaigned against liberalisation in the lead up to the 2005 referendum on retail trading hours.
The No campaign was misleading to say the least. For example, IGA made the absurd claim that extending trading hours threatened 15,000 jobs. Data from the ABS, however, suggests otherwise. The chart shows that with the exception of South Australia, the average annual employment increased in all states and territories in the 12 months that followed liberalisation. South Australia was experiencing a slowdown in retail turnover before trading hours were liberalised in 2003.
Media
The West Australian PerthNow The Australian 3rd Degree Institute of Public Affairs
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