Bring on 2012 and an extra public holiday I say!
I know I'm not working at the moment so advocating for another day off is a little indulgent. But hey, I'm a man of the people and therefore support anything that gives my followers and fans some additional respite and relaxation.
If you haven't heard already, the Queensland Government has announced that from 2012, the Queen's Birthday Public Holiday will be moved from early June to the first Monday in October. But the bonus next year is that we will also get a public holiday in early June for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee as a means of ensuring a smooth transition for events and programs that have already counted on a public holiday then.
This move comes after a discussion paper was released earlier in the year where Queenslanders were asked for their opinions on the number of public holidays they have and when they fall. That consultation overwhelmingly supported spreading public holiday throughout the year. And it's not like the Queen's birthday is in June anyway (21 April for the record). That date is a throw-back to Victorian times so there's definitely an argument that the times-have-a-changed since then.
While I'd much rather prefer to be celebrating Republic Day, the decision to move the Queen's Birthday Public Holiday to October is long awaited for mine as Queenslanders have suffered too long with no public holiday set down for the second half of the year. From early June onwards there's been nothing, which makes for a very long six and a bit months before the Xmas break.
You can certainly see in people come October/November that they are burnt out and in need of a break. Energy levels are sapped, particularly as the temperatures and humidity start to rise, and everyone is just praying for the end of the year to come. Admittedly, Brisbane people have the EKKA Holiday in August, but that's just the capital so there's still a massive part of the State struggling through.
A win-win then surely? But sadly, no. Fore there is always someone having a whinge and in this case it's the various retailers' groups (Australian Retailers Association, National Retailers Association, United Retailers Federation just to name a few). Now, I can definitely see why such organisations exist and applaud retailers getting together to try and raise a voice on issues that concern them (much like a trade union, but for businesses rather than workers).
The thing is though, is that all I hear from them is complaint. If it's not about an extra public holiday next year causing a small increase in staff costs for one day (a day when the public won't be working and most likely will be spending mind you), it's the changing value of the Aussie dollar causing import costs to go up and down.
And if they're not trying to pressure the Reserve Bank to lower interest rates so that people can spend a lot more on things they don't need, it's them complaining about customers moving towards online shopping rather than visiting their stores (maybe some decent customer service instore would help out on that one).
So yes, just once, I'd like to hear a positive thing come from the retailers. Although it would probably take the return of WorkChoices for that.
I sure don't envy individual retailers and their choice as to which representational organsation to join though. And maybe that's the problem. Each organisation is competing with each other to be the 'voice' of retail businesses and is therefore keen to 'cry out' the loudest. The more 'airtime' you get, the more members and all that.
Anyway, I reckon it's time to celebrate the sensible move of spreading our public holidays out from now on and the added bonus of an extra day off next year. I'm so keen on celebrating, in fact, that perhaps we should have another public holiday for that also. EDM Day?
Awesome. I'll start the petition now. Just don't tell the retailers.
$hit-stirring again,
EDM.
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