Editorial: Rotorua shops should have Easter option

And  so those who know what's best for us have again foiled an attempt to crack the impenetrable egg that is Easter trading legislation.

Parliament on Wednesday night voted down Jacqui Dean's bill to open shops on Easter Sunday.

In April, I wrote in an editorial that it was galling to see other tourist spots such as Taupo and Queenstown enjoy an exemption that allows their shops to open at Easter.

"If you're going to allow exceptions to the rule then at least apply them consistently," I wrote.

And that's the point that opponents of Easter trading are missing. If it's good enough for businesses in Taupo down the road to open for tourists, then there seems no logical reason Rotorua businesses should not enjoy the same exemption.

In the same vein, why should the retail sector be governed by this rule when plenty of other businesses - including this newspaper, tourist attractions, petrol stations, cafes and restaurants and video stores - are not.

Most opposition centres on the need for retail workers to spend time with their families and that's an understandable sentiment. But two wrongs don't make a right. Forcing independent businesses to close for historical, political or religious reasons makes no sense.

For all businesses to be banned by central government from opening is overly heavy-handed. Rotorua businesses should be able to choose whether to open at Easter.

Not all will want to.

But, and this is restating the obvious, Rotorua is a tourist town, which at Easter caters to thousands of visitors from around the country and around the world.

Local businesses deserve the chance to make the most of this influx.