Is Weatherill confused or not listening? AHA says shop trading changes are “a pig of a deal”

Posted on November 10, 2011

The Hotels Association has told Mr Weatherill in no uncertain terms that they do not support his changes to penalty rates in the new shop trading deal.

Mr Weatherill told ABC radio this week that he had spoken to the Hotels Association and they were “positively disposed to the change” (8/11/11).

However, Hotels Association SA General Manager Ian Horne has strongly rebuffed Mr Weatherill’s assessment describing the changes as a “pig of deal” (5AA, 10/11/11).

To add insult to injury, when Mr Weatherill was asked in Parliament today if he stood by assertion he replied: “The answer is yes, because they told us so”.

Flying in the face of his commitment to end Labor’s “announce and defend” approach Premier Weatherill has admitted he failed to talk to the hospitality industry about changes to shop trading hours until after the decision was made by Cabinet.

Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond said Mr Weatherill either wasn’t listening or was deliberately misrepresenting the Hotels Association’s position.

“Mr Weatherill said the Hotels Association was “positively disposed to the change” but this is clearly not the case,” Ms Redmond said.

“Either the Premier has his wires crossed or he just was not listening.

“The Hotels Association joins a long line of industry stakeholders who are unhappy with the new deal and angry that Labor has failed to consult them on the changes.

“Just weeks into his Premiership, Mr Weatherill has broken promise to lead a new consultative Labor Government that listens to the public.

“Government decisions will never be popular with everyone but avoiding tough discussions and keeping stakeholders in the dark is not the answer.”