QUEENSLANDERS WANT PUBLIC HOLIDAY SHAKE UP

Queenslanders are voting overwhelmingly to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday public holiday in the second half of next year and to enjoy an extended school holiday break at Easter.

The discussion paper titled Getting the balance right: A proposal on holidays in Queensland also looks at allocating an extra public holiday when Christmas, Boxing, or New Year’s days fall on a Saturday or Sunday.

“This year both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fall on the weekend,” said the Premier.

“One of the things we wanted to know was whether the law should be changed to ensure these holidays are recognised on both the actual date when they fall on a weekend, as well as an additional day the following week

“That means those who work on these days have access to the same number of public holidays and penalty rates as workers on a standard Monday-to-Friday week.”

Ms Bligh said the Government had received a huge response to the proposals.

“By the middle of this week we had received 14,400 responses and the overwhelming majority of them were positive,” she said.

“If people are this keen I can’t see any good reason to wait.

“Consultation closes on 31 October and if the support is the same we will take a submission to cabinet soon after that.”

Ms Bligh said the results so far show that:

• 81% agreed with the principle of the reallocation of the student free days and 60% welcome the opportunity for creating an extended Easter Break for students.
• 96% supported moving the Queen’s birthday to a Monday in October
• 91% supported creation of additional public holidays when Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day fall on a weekend

Consultation with the Queensland Tourism and Industry Council has also indicated strong support for the proposed changes.

“We are committed to doing all that we can to help the Tourism industry and their support is another reason to bring these reforms into place as soon as possible,” said the Premier.

The review is seeking feedback on three proposals relating to holidays in Queensland including:

• Moving the Queen’s Birthday to create a new Summer Public Holiday
• Allocating an extra public holiday when Christmas, Boxing, or New Year’s days fall on a weekend
• Expanding state school Easter holidays from six days to two weeks.

Ms Bligh said that most public holidays were currently clustered in the first half of the year, particularly in the period between March and June.

“But there are no statewide public holidays in the six months between the Queen’s Birthday public holiday in June and Christmas Day in December and we are the only State that has no public holiday in the second half of the year,” she said.

While most Australian States observe the Queen’s Birthday on the first weekend in June Western Australia celebrates the holiday in September or October.

The review was prompted by calls from the public and various stakeholders to spread public holidays more evenly throughout the year and to reconsider current arrangements for student-free days in schools.