Shops warned of fines if they open on Easter Sunday without an exemption
As people across NSW relax and commemorate the long Easter weekend in a variety of ways, large retail stores who flout strict Easter Sunday and Anzac Day retail trading hours have been warned they will be hit with huge fines.
Large retail stores who flout strict Easter Sunday and Anzac Day retail trading hours have been told they will be hit with huge fines.
The warning comes after the Australian Retailers’ Association was forced to step in when a Sydney shopping centre tried to force its tenants to stay open.
MORE NEWS:
Bring back fatigue to save rugby league
Man behind bars for ‘arranging sex’ with girl, 9
Armed police raid housing estate, seize weapons, drugs
Opening on Easter Sunday or Anzac Day before 1pm is illegal for large retailers, with exemptions for small shops and hotels.
“We know from retailers seeking clarification, for example, of a shopping centre in Sydney that wanted to tell its customers it’d be open on Easter Sunday, and sought to compel its tenants to trade,” chief executive Russell Zimmerman said.
“Easter Sunday trading is illegal under NSW law, unless an exemption is granted.”
He said if the shops in question had obeyed the directive from centre management and opened their doors they would have been slapped with fines of $11,000 each.
“The Australian Retail Association understands that Easter is a very popular holiday and that people like to go shopping,” Mr Zimmerman said. “Even so, the law is the law.”
Sydney Fish Market is exempt from the prohibitions and did a roaring trade on Friday after customers first walked in at 5am, with an estimated 50,000 people eager to snap up some seafood.
General manager Bryan Skepper said about 650 tonnes of seafood was sold, including 25 tonnes of barramundi, 40 tonnes of salmon and 40 tonnes of prawns. And he said there was also plenty on offer for those looking for something a little different.
“Australian fish like mirror dory, eastern school whiting, or silver trevally are great alternatives as they are in abundance around Easter, so they make for very affordable and sustainable options,” Mr Skepper said.
He also said this Easter coincided with the annual “mullet run” on Australia’s east coast, with large numbers of sea mullet migrating north close to the shore, making them easy for fishers to catch with nets on the beach.
Large crowds also turned out on Friday to take advantage of the extended spell of good weather, visiting the Royal Easter Show and attending Good Friday church services.
Police will keep a “highly visible and mobile police presence” at many of the events across NSW this weekend, which include the Family Show at Moore Park, Great Garden Egg Hunts in the Botanic Gardens and Centennial Park, as well as an Easter Parade in the CBD on Monday.
NSW Business Chamber policy director and acting executive director Chris Lamont said many people were expected to drive north and south to visit coastal towns, with many opting for a rare 10-day break created by Anzac Day falling so close to Easter and in the middle of school holidays.
Yesterday traffic banked up on the major routes out of the city, with major delays reported on the north coast and hold-ups on the south coast near Berry and Milton, with the RMS cautioning the increased traffic will continue for the entire long weekend.
“We’re expecting Sydney to be quieter with a fairly significant percentage of the population tacking on the Anzac Day holiday and taking a 10-day holiday,” Mr Lamont said.
“We are hearing of a number of manufacturers who are also taking the time to basically shut operations in greater Sydney, to give employees the opportunity to take leave over the school holidays and Easter.”
It is expected that 16 per cent of Australians will attend an Easter service during the Holy Week, according to the latest figures from the National Church Life survey.
In his Easter message, Anglican Sydney Archbishop Dr Glenn Davies — who will preach at St Andrew’s Cathedral on Sunday — said celebrations were under way to mark the anniversary of Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 team’s moon landing.
“Fifty years ago the world was looking towards space — waiting for the first moon landing,” he said.
“If you were alive in 1969 you would remember exactly where you were when Neil Armstrong took that first small step for a man and one giant leap for mankind.
“Although none of us were there when Jesus lived and died, his resurrection was so significant that we remember and celebrate it every year, and will continue to do so until he returns.”
A spokeswoman for the Catholic Church said services were packed to overflowing, with St Mary’s Cathedral comfortably seating 1200 and another 400 standing.
In his Easter message, Archbishop Anthony Fisher said it was sometimes “hard to be a Catholic”, adding that “Easter is confronting”.
“The Cross tells the story of a suffering humanity,” he said. “Still we hope. From cross and tomb, we dream of heaven.”
SHOPPING HOURS
EASTER SATURDAY
Open: Most shops operating as a normal.
EASTER SUNDAY
Open: Taronga Zoo, Royal Easter Show, cinemas.
Closed: Major shopping centres and supermarkets. Some centres have limited opening, including Broadway and QVB.
EASTER CHURCH SERVICES
EASTER SATURDAY
St Mary’s Cathedral
10am: Tenebrae The Office Readings
6pm: Easter Vigil
EASTER SUNDAY
St Andrew’s Cathedral
8.30am: Holy communion with cathedral choir
10.30am: Holy communion with Archbishop
5pm: Contemporary Easter Service
6pm: Easter Vigil
St Mary’s Cathedral
7am: Mass
9am: Mass
10.30am: Solemn Mass
12.15pm: Low Mass
5pm: Solemn Vespers and Benediction
6pm: Mass
IT’S THE ROYAL INSTA SHOW
A bubbly alpaca is drawing a huge crowd of admirers at the Easter Show with his model moves and camera-hungry pout.
Gin and Tonic clearly isn’t one to fluff his lines, languidly striking a pose as Central Coast teen Gabriella Brierley cuddled up to him yesterday.
She was just one of many new alpaca fans lining up to take selfies with him.
“He was so slow but very fluffy, he was cute,” the 18-year-old said.
Alpacas first appeared at the show in the 1860s and the Sydney Royal Alpaca and Fleece Show is considered the country’s most prestigious competition.
Coolawarra and Storybook Alpacas owner Mick Williams, 51, who brought Gin and Tonic to the show, said: “They are the animal of choice for the public — it never ceases to amaze me, their genuine love for these animals.”
PUMPED UP PRICES PUT US ON FURY ROAD
Petrol prices have hit a six-month high with some stations reaching 159.9 cents a litre for the cheaper E10 fuel just as motorists hit the road for the extended long weekend.
The NRMA says the timing “couldn't be worse for families” with the high point of the petrol cycle coinciding with many families leaving to drive up and down the coast.
Prices — including an eye-watering 184.9 cents a litre for Premium 98 petrol at the Coles Express outlet at Woolloomooloo — are now the highest they have been this year.
The average E10 petrol price was 146.8c on Friday, compared with a low of 135.8c on April 8.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said families needed to brace for higher petrol prices over the holiday period, with average prices at Easter almost 40c per litre higher than Christmas.
Prices are expected to fall again after the weekend.
Mr Khoury said Sydney now had the highest average price for regular unleaded across NSW, with cheaper prices found in regional areas such as 129.2c at Maitland, 136.6c at Goulburn and 137c at Albury.
“It is rare for prices outside of Sydney to be cheaper than they are in the city so it may also be worth waiting until you’re on the road to fill up,” he said.
Mr Khoury said sustained cuts to supply by OPEC, mayhem in Venezuela, US sanctions in Iran, and Libya on the brink of war had all contributed to rising petrol prices in Australia.
RE-ENACTMENT OF FINAL HOURS BEFORE JESUS’S DEATH
Meanwhile, a Sydney church has re-enacted the final hours before Jesus’s death in a bid to remind the public of religious basis of the public holiday.
More than 100 people gathered at St Joseph’s Church in Camperdown as an actor wearing a loincloth re-enacted the 14 stations of the cross on Thursday.
He was realistically coated in fake blood made from black coffee, cornstarch and red food colouring as the crowd watched.
Sentenced to death by crucifixion by Pontius Pilot, he was made to carry a heavy cross while being whipped and heckled by Roman guards.
While it was play acting, parishioner Ben Owens who played Jesus said being tied to the cross restricted his breathing and gave him an idea of how it would have felt for Jesus.
“The little things are very painful, when you’re standing on a very sharp rock for two minutes holding the weight of a cross, it is quite an experience,” he said.
“You get a tiny feel of what it may have been like for Christ, the restriction of breathing and pain.”
“Carrying the cross is pretty hard, it is pretty heavy — heavy enough that I was glad when Simon of Cyrene came along to help out.”
The guards used rope to tie him to the cross and pretended to hammer nails into his hands as he pretended to scream in agony.
He came to play the lead role after being asked by Father Anthony Bernard.
“Father asked me and I have a rule, when God asks, you say yes.”
Church committee member Charbel Hachem said they ran the real life re-enactment to remind people about the real meaning of the Easter holiday.
“It is to celebrate Jesus’s life and for the world to realise what the holiday is about, what Good Friday is about. We tend to forget what this day represents and it represents the death of our Lord.”
“They’re moved by the actual events just going back and moving back in time and trying to mimic what Jesus went through, what the Bible states.”
this is blog test
this is blog test
The special letter that inspired Jeff Fenech to greatness
Johnny Lewis opens up on his relationship with the Marrickville Mauler, widely regarded as the nation’s greatest ever boxer, and his early life on the mean streets of Sydney’s inner west.