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The Unheard Word

One woman's slightly skewed views

Extended Trading Hours

Western Australians voted overwhelmingly against extended trading hours in the recent referendum, making it perfectly clear we (generally speaking) wish to clearly differentiate between family/recreation time and shopping/business hours.

As one of the (clearly minority) Western Australians who voted for extended trading hours, I really would have liked to have had more flexibility in the time available to shop. Even though I am not an employee anymore, it is not that long since I was one, and it was really, really difficult for me to get to the shops during the week. I’m sure this was made worse by the fact that I had to drive 60km home each night and the nearest shops from my home are half an hour’s drive away, but hey, I’m a modern woman and as such I appreciate my conveniences!

I think both the For and Against arguments had merits, and it was very much a case of “how does this affect me personally?” For example, it just doesn’t happen that a business-owning voter will say “Even though my business will go broke, I see that it will be in the best interests of Western Australians if we have extended trading hours.”

I just can’t help wishing we had the flexibility offered in other states and countries… I really don’t agree with the outcome of this referendum. (Sorry, small retail outlets!)

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