EASTER in New Zealand has a few odd contradictions. Most overseas visitors I talk to can't believe we host a national rabbit-shooting contest in Otago. It's also a traditionally unseasonal time, if you compare it with the emerging of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
But what bemuses some visitors to this country is our laws around Easter trading.
Commercial trading in New Zealand is an evolving process. Certainly alcohol sales have witnessed the greatest reform, but when it comes to what stays open and what doesn't, the weekends and public holidays have slowly given way to the practicalities and freedom of choice that comes with market forces. It has meant that supermarkets become super-powerful in an uneven playing field, and small mom-and-pop outfits struggle to compete. But generally I'm a fan of people exercising their initiative and expending extra hours to make a success of themselves. It is my personal belief that unions can be counter-intuitive to this goal.
But while unions did fight hard against Sunday trading back in the day, the concept of shutting at Easter is fixed, for the moment, in law and I can only guess it has religion at its roots. But it's gotten completely mangled. Dairies can open throughout Easter for essential items. So can pharmacies. But Garden Centres (who frequently make the headlines for flouting the rules) can open on Good Friday, but not on Easter Sunday. Supermarkets shut on both days, as do most other retail outlets. It meant on Thursday you get the usual queues at supermarkets, as if one day without a functioning supermarket will result in death from starvation.
I don't think it makes sense any more. This coming Anzac Day, shops are required to be shut until 1pm, and I think that's pretty reasonable - it shows respect. Christmas also makes sense as a non-trading day. But I don't think it's a good look for our country to revert to a 1950s ghost town on two days in Easter. Who says it's healthier to have an enforced stay-at-home day? I admit it helps with the household to-do list, but frankly, sometimes shopping is better for the soul.
