Western Australia could get an extra public holiday as the state looks at syncing with the East Coast
West Australians could be treated to an additional public holiday next year as the state looks at aligning its system with the east coast.
WA currently has the lowest number of public holidays in the nation, and usually has a day off one week earlier than its eastern state counterparts.
The state celebrates WA Day on the first Monday in June, then celebrates the King’s Birthday on the fourth weekend in September. Most other states and territories celebrate the King’s Birthday on the second weekend in June.
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Premier Roger Cook said his department was looking at realigning West Australian public holidays with the east coast so they were better synched.
“It is ridiculous you have a situation where Western Australia closes its doors or shuts the shop when the east coast is open for business,” he said.
“Today of course, you’ll have frustrated members of the Western Australian business community that can’t access their colleagues on the east coast.
“I’m reviewing the whole range of public holidays we have in Western Australia and where they land to make sure that we’ve got better alignment and that they work better for the WA community
“We are part of a national economy, and we should be working together much better to ensure better alignment around these days. “
CCIWA chief economist Aaron Morey said it was a good call from the premier but he did not support an additional public holiday.
“I think it’s a good call from the Premier and lining up holidays definitely has public merit, how many birthdays does the king need?” he said.
“We’re going to see some distraction today, the Melbourne Collingwood game on, I think people would rather be at home watching that.”
But Mr Morey said he did not support having an additional public holiday in WA, which was a huge headache for small businesses doing it tough.
“Someone might see a public holiday as a benefit, but for a small business, they just see another day when they have to pay $65 an hour for someone to wash dishes,” he said.
“It’s really difficult for small business to navigate and to plan around public holidays, and so certainly not supportive of that concept.”
