General News
25 June, 2025
Katter lashes Sunday move
FEDERAL Member for Kennedy Bob Katter is calling on Cairns Regional Council and the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission to reject Woolworths’ push for Sunday trading in Gordonvale.
He said it would be “the final nail in the coffin” for small, family-run businesses in the southern Cairns suburb.
Woolworths has made the application after a survey found the overwhelming majority of customers would shop on Sundays if it was available and provide staff with more working hours. It would also allow other retailers on site to open on Sundays.
Mr Katter said grocery shoppers had been “brainwashed” when they thought about food, with Woolworths and Coles immediately coming to mind.
“…. it’s because you’ve been brainwashed – you see it on your TV over and over again, morning, noon and night,” he said.
“But, it’s not just one more trading day. It’s the beginning of the end for the independent shops that hold our communities together.
“We will tenaciously oppose and take down the names of anyone that pushes seven-day trade at Gordonvale Woolworths.
“Look, I understand. I’m a person who can hardly ever get to the shops 9 to 5 during the week. I come from the Mount Isa and Cloncurry area, I’ve been a miner working continuous shifts and I’d deeply appreciate a service like that.
“But do I want to live in a society with only one person I can sell food to and buy food from? Well, I hate to break it to you, but that’s what we’re living in right now.”
Mr Katter said the duopoly of Coles and Woolworths was rapidly turning Australia into a corporate monopoly state, with suburbs like Gordonvale the latest target.
“Let’s be clear: this is not about community choice or convenience. It’s about wiping out the last little guys still standing. The butcher, the bakery, the fruit stall on the side of the road – all gone, so we can hand more power to the supermarket duopoly.
“Please, we are Australians, and this is un-Australian. This has got to be fought with fire.”
