Todd McClay

Wellington, Dec 10 NZPA - Trade unionists are thrilled by the defeat of a bill that would have opened up Easter trading laws but Auckland's Chamber of Commerce says the vote was crazy.

Rotorua MP Todd McClay's member's bill went down 62-59 on a conscience vote in Parliament last night after he made an impassioned plea for it to at least be sent to a select committee for public submissions.

Mr McClay, a National MP, wanted local authorities to be allowed to decide whether shops in their area should be allowed to open on Easter Sunday, saying Rotorua desperately needed the right to trade on its busiest tourist weekend of the year.

He said Easter trading laws were a mess, with Taupo allowed to open while Rotorua, 80km away, wasn't. "It won't compel workers anywhere to work on Easter Sunday if they don't want to," he said during the first reading debate on his bill.

"In Rotorua we don't want to tell people in other parts of the country what to do, that's a choice for them." After he lost the vote, Mr McClay said the people of Rotorua would be disappointed.

"This is an extremely important issue for Rotorua," he said.

"I will consult with my community over the holiday break and will seek their views on where to from here." Mr McClay blamed Labour MPs for defeating his bill, although there were nine National MPs on the list of those who voted against it.

The National Distribution Union, which staged a protest rally at Parliament before the bill was debated, said retail workers would be thrilled by its defeat.

"I think it has sunk home to MPs that families are more important than shops opening, and that community should come before commerce," said NDU vice-president Margaret Dornan.

Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett said it shouldn't be up to Parliament to set the rules about where businesses could open.

"It's crazy that current laws allows shops in Queenstown and Taupo to open on Easter Sunday but not in Wanaka and Rotorua," he said.

"It's even more crazy that in the 21st century our Parliament is still telling business where they can open in one area of New Zealand but not somewhere else."

Mr Barnett said it was the 11th time Parliament had attempted to fix New Zealand's Easter trading "nonsense" in the past 20 years.

"This issue should be about Parliament giving businesses and shoppers freedom of choice, not one of Parliament picking winners and losers," he said.