Thanks to a piece of Machiavellian political manoeuvring the Government's finally managed to find an aspirin for its perennial headaches it's had around Easter trading laws.

It's now going to be a thorn in the side of local councils after the government passed a law that neatly devolves the decision making on who can trade and when to them. And, because it whipped its MPs on the vote, the National Party managed to side step the Christian conservatives within its caucus that had blocked loosening of Easter trading laws on four separate occasions over the past decade

One of the arguments for liberalisation has been that workers won't be forced to work the hours if they don't want to and that they'll have redress under employment laws if pressure is applied to him.

Now that sounds fine in theory. But as someone who worked, back in the 1990s, on the minimum wage for a company (who'll I'll leave unnamed) that ran a seven day a week operation - I can attest to where the power lies in such situations. When you raise concerns about conditions of work and hours, well the answer from the bosses can be pretty blunt.

If you don't like the job conditions you have, you're free to go and work somewhere else and we'll find someone to replace you.

It is entirely possible that we now live in more enlightened times, (and labour laws are not as draconian as they were in the 1990s) but if you don’t think that scenario can't be repeated today then you're dreaming.

Let’s also put into the mix the recent push for a national day to commemorate the New Zealand Wars and the debate over whether it should be a public holiday. It's been interesting to note that there have been those, for example the Finance Minister, who have said that a public holiday is not needed.

And who can forget the wailing and gnashing of teeth that came from business groups when Anzac Day and Waitangi Day were Monday-ized. You would have thought the sky was going to fall in over the fuss they raised over the cost to business having and pay penalty rates to staff.

Well a number of these very same people say liberalising Easter trading laws is no big deal, that it's just one day of the year.

If that is the case, then the same argument should apply to having a public holiday to mark the New Zealand Wars. It's just one day. They get to do business at Easter and we all get to have a day where we finally acknowledge some of the most formative incidents in our country's history.

It seems like a fair trade to me.