The ACT Party has lodged a bill to put an end to trading restrictions on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
If passed, the private member's bill by ACT MP Cameron Luxton would allow retailers to keep their doors open as normal through Easter.
Under current legislation, retailers across the country are forced to shut up shop on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday - although some councils have adopted their own bylaws allowing them to open.
But even if a business can open at Easter, overarching laws still apply, for example, alcohol can only be sold if the customer is having a meal.
"Forcing businesses to close over Easter is a paternalistic relic of an old-fashioned New Zealand that just doesn’t make sense for a diverse modern nation," Luxton said.
"Businesses with narrow margins feel real financial pain from the annual Easter shutdown, and hospo workers don’t tend to enjoy enforcing silly rules around whether adults can have a pint with lunch."
He said the bill would remove the extra burden on businesses by giving them the freedom to trade if they want to.
The Bill also looks after workers as it retains the existing employee protections that apply in respect of Easter Sunday and extends these protections to Good Friday, Luxton added.
The same bill was previously lodged by former ACT MP Chris Baillie but was voted down in 2022 after Labour, which had a majority in Parliament, decided to vote as a caucus against the issue.
Labour argued that Good Friday and Easter Sunday are two of only three-and-a-half-days of the year when trading is restricted and workers can focus on having time to spend with family and friends.
Luxton said if his bill is drawn from the ballot there is a good chance Parliament will finally overhaul the "antiquated" Easter trading laws.
"It's an issue everyone has an opinion on and I can't wait to raise hell about it in the run-up to Easter," he said.
