FED:Report backs better support for retailer=4

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2011
FED:Report backs better support for retailer=4

Mr Shorten said there were many opportunities for online retail.

"The Australian retail industry should not regard the internet as some sort of big
brown snake that has snuck into the kitchen and imperils the future of retail," he said.

"Consumers are shopping online for a whole host of reasons from being value-conscious,
to taking benefit from the high dollar, to looking for range, to frustration from some
bricks and mortar (stores).

"But in all this the government is most mindful of the concerns of small business ...

and we think there are collective solutions to the future of retail."

Mr Shorten said the government would not "take the low road" and advocate an end to
penalty rates or lower wages in the retail sector.

"The reality is retail wages are not high," he said.

"The Australian retail industry does need a skilled staff and having an old-fashioned
debate about cutting someone's wage rate ... surely we are smarter in this country than
just cutting peoples' wages."

AAP pjo/rl/mm

KEYWORD: RETAIL 4 CANBERRA

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