A leading economist is calling for New Zealand's public holiday trading laws to be updated saying they're outdated and "nonsensical rules".
There are currently three and a half days of the year where almost all shops must be closed under the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990. They are Christmas Day, Good Friday, ANZAC Day until 1pm and Easter Sunday.
Three of those four days are public holidays, but Easter Sunday is not a public holiday.
Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen told AM on Wednesday New Zealand's current laws don't make sense and a lot of Kiwis don't understand them.
"I think New Zealand's shop trading hours can be really characterised as a bit of a patchwork tapestry of nonsensical rules," Olsen told AM Early host Bernadine Oliver-Kerby.
"One of those four days that are restricted from trading is Easter Sunday but that date isn't actually a public holiday and if you go through to Easter Monday, which is a public holiday, you can trade on that one."
Olsen said New Zealand needs a revamp of its restricted trading day laws as times have evolved since they were originally created.
"My view really is we need to smarten up our laws, get with the times because the way New Zealanders shop, when we want to shop, has evolved quite a lot," he said.
From August 2016, city and district councils can put in place local policies that allow shops within their area, or parts of it, to trade on Easter Sunday, according to Employment New Zealand.
Olsen said there are a number of "odd rules", which mean some businesses are allowed to open but similar ones can’t.
"They were set all the way back in the 70s and 80s and they can literally not be changed today. They have been grandfathered in," he told AM.
"At some points, you can have your garden centres open but you might not be able to have a hardware store open. It just doesn't make a lot of sense what we are expecting New Zealanders can or can't do on their public holidays."
Olsen is calling for a better framework around which stores can and can't open on public holidays.
"Looking through it, we can't trade on certain days like Easter and Christmas and that might well be fair, but we still are allowed to do almost whatever when it comes to trading on Waitangi Day, Labour Day, Matariki," he said.
"I just think we need a better conversation, a better national framework to set down why we decide that certain things can or can't be open and also allow a bit more flexibility for Kiwis who want to be able to shop at different times.
"The way that we work, the times that we work are evolving and I think our shop trading hour need to move with that."
Watch the full interview with Brad Olsen above.
