Pubs get reprieve for Anzac Day trading ban
New South Wales pubs and restaurants will remain open on Anzac Day despite retailers now having to remain shut beyond 1pm under a full-day trading ban.
The NSW government has said it will extend Anzac Day trading hour restrictions to allow people to commemorate the day properly.
Supermarkets and other large retailers will remain shut until midnight under the change.
Smaller businesses including chemists, cafes, takeaway restaurants and newsagents, will remain open the whole day.
The changes follow a review into trading restrictions launched in 2023.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said closing corporate shops is a "small price to pay for living in a free and open democracy".
"Remembering the fallen means stopping what we’re doing, putting aside our daily concerns, so we can properly reflect on the Australians who’ve gone before us," he said.
"It means pausing as a community – really pausing – to contemplate the sacrifices made in our name. Over more than a century, those sacrifices have made our great country possible. What’s more, those sacrifices continue to this day.
"The least we can do is give them a full day of thanks in return."
The NSW premier also took a swipe at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who reversed a ban to allow public servants to swap out Anzac Day holiday for a different day of leave.
The NSW Premier told The Daily Telegraph he would "generally not prefer that take place".
"I don’t like the idea of swapping it out,” he said.
Music festivals will also be banned, following a concert that was planned for April 25 this year in the Domain that was metres away from commemorative services.
"I don't think it's appropriate for concerts anywhere in NSW on Anzac Day, certainly big public rock concerts like that," he said in late March.
"In the first instance, I've got to protect the CBD and ensure that the RSL has an opportunity to have that march, and the community can come together."
That particular festival was moved to Sydney Olympic Park.
Jonathan Jackson, 10th July 2024
