KAP’s Robbie Katter and Shane Knuth and the rest of the Queensland crossbench will vote together against the Trading (Allowable Hours) Amendment Bill.

 Robbie, Shane, and fellow crossbenchers Rob Pyne, Billy Gordon and Steve Dickson, said they could not in good conscience support a bill that gave more power to supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths.

 KAP State Leader and Member for Mount Isa, Robbie Katter, said KAP and his crossbench colleagues had consulted extensively with their electorates on the Bill.

 “This bill is sold as making positive changes to trading hours in Queensland, but in reality it will squeeze out small and independent retailers and give more power to the supermarket duopoly,” Robbie said.

 “The Parliamentary Committee that investigated the Bill could not even bring itself to recommend it be passed,” he said.

 The report states: “The IGA State Board stated that following the deregulation of trading hours in December 2016, IGA supermarkets lost $1 million per week in turnover. It advised that the loss in turnover reduced wages by approx. $5.5 million, which will lead to a reduction in employment across the network of approximately 128 fulltime jobs.” The report suggested that these jobs were not necessarily re-created by the two major supermarkets, because of the use of self-check outs.

 “This will be disastrous for small business operators in Mount Isa and other rural and regional areas in Queensland,” Robbie said.

 “KAP has been sticking up for smaller businesses for a long time, and we won’t give up,” Shane said.

 “KAP is opposed to any changes to trading hours that would allow a supermarket duopoly to dominate the market over small business. If the changes are passed, there is a real danger it will destroy small businesses which are already doing it tough. It’s the one size fits all mentality that simply does not work for smaller regional centres,” Shane said.