Revealed: How Qld ranks for business-friendly regulations
A major business group warns Queensland's complex trading hours are leaving the state trapped in the past while other jurisdictions surge ahead.
Queensland’s archaic retail trading laws are holding it back from becoming an economic powerhouse, with a new report slamming the state as one of the worst jurisdictions in Australia in which to do business.
The Business Council of Australia is now calling on the state government to prioritise modernising tradings hours to be fit for the 21st century — rather than the convoluted “zone” rules that exist now.
But the state government hasn’t yet committed to making the changes needed.
A new report by the BCA has deemed Queensland to have the second most inflexible and restrictive retail trading hours in the country.
The BCA’s annual “regulation rumble report” – which ranks states and territories based on how open they are for business based on everything from taxes to red tape – ranked Queensland sixth of the eight jurisdictions.
While the state topped the list on workers compensation premiums, its decentralised planning system and restrictive trading hours are holding it back.
Business Council CEO Bran Black said a patchwork of local rules made it harder to build, expand or even open shop doors.
He said that in an era of online shopping and increasing demand for customers to be able to shop when convenient to them, the restrictions could appear anachronistic.
“Christmas is approaching and Queensland could get more bang for buck from their retail sectors if they allowed businesses to open for longer and when it suits them,” Mr Black said.
The finding comes just weeks after Queensland councils, at the annual Local Government Association of Queensland conference, called on the state government to amend legislation to grant councils the power to authorise late-night trading.
Under Queensland law, trading hours are set by the state government.
Major retailers and supermarkets, defined as non-exempt shops, can generally only trade until 9pm Monday to Saturday and 6pm on Sundays.
But convoluted state-designated exemptions means a supermarket in the inner-city Brisbane suburb of Newstead can open from 6am to 10pm on Monday-Friday, while the store across the river in Bulimba is restricted to 7am to 9pm.
Stores in type 1 zones, including New Farm, can open 7am to 9pm on Sunday, while type 2 zones - encompassing the rest of southeast Queensland - can only operate from 9am to 6pm.
There are further restrictions on when major stores in rural and regional towns can open, including shops in type 4 zones being closed on Sundays.
Mr Black, in an opinion piece for this masthead, said “these kind of self-imposed and unnecessary speed bumps might have had a place last century, but they certainly don’t in the 21st”.
Treasurer David Janetzki did not directly address whether the government was looking to improve the state’s trading hour laws.
He said the report shone a light on the “stark realities” suffered by small and family business during the decade Labor was in power.
“The Liberal National Party is the party of small and family business and already we are delivering on our commitment to turn things around,” he said.
Council planning is another drag on the state’s economic potential, with the state’s decentralised system and inconsistent rules relegating Queensland to second last for consistency.
The BCA specifically points to the fact that each of the state’s 77 councils have their own process - which creates headaches for developers and slows down investment.
“Strong leadership on harmonising local planning could unlock the state’s full growth potential,” he said.
“Queensland needs to streamline its planning system to open up more development and housing.”
The BCA says overcoming this hurdle could involve creating a single development-application portal, unifying data, and increasing transparency across local governments.
In the overarching report cards, Queensland was ranked sixth on overall cost and regulation and seventh on the land use and planning system ranking.
Queensland was ranked second on certainty, third on licensing and requirements to do business and on insurance duties, fourth on payroll tax, fifth on efficiency, seventh on property taxes and charges and on consistency, and last on transparency.
Mr Black said while Queensland had enormous advantages, that could only be converted to a business edge if the state cuts “duplication and delay”.
Mr Janetzki pointed to the establishment of the Queensland Productivity Commission and the abolishment of two taxes as a sign the Crisafulli government was trying to turn things around.
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Originally published as Revealed: How Qld ranks for business-friendly regulations
