Region. 24-hour trading

The Minister for Planning, Brad Hazzard, proposes to permit shops and restaurants to stay open 24 hours a day in the two weeks before Christmas as part of a plan to reinvigorate the state’s retial economy. Under the proposed reforms, restaurants will also receive automatic approval for outdoor dining areas – of up to 20 tables – without having to submit expensive and time-consuming applications with their local councils, according to The Sunday Telegraph.