#1151 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 15 November 2015
In line with an election promise by Premier Mike Baird, retailers throughout NSW will be free to open on Boxing Day this year after legislation passed the NSW Parliament on Wednesday with the help of Christian Democratic Party leader, the Reverend Fred Nile, who secured amendments to the bill ensuring that no employee would be forced to work on Christmas Day to prepare for Boxing Day trading.
Reverend Nile said the amendments satisfied religious leaders, who earlier expressed concern that liberalisation of retail trading laws across designated public holidays would undermine a healthy work-life balance for workers and their families, and might lead to Easter Sunday, regarded as the most sacred day on the Christian calendar, being regarded as just another shopping day, with adverse implications for workers who wished to attend religious services or spend quality time with their families on Easter Sunday.
The new legislation will be reviewed in 2017.
I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.
NSW Council of Churches 
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