The working population will be receiving an early gift this Christmas once the Queensland parliament passes a bill creating extra public holidays on Christmas day and New Year's day.

Both Christmas and New Year holidays fall on Saturdays this year. Employees working on December 25 or January 1 would have missed out on penalty rates if the public holidays were not moved to weekdays.

The new legislation will be introduced into Parliament today. According to Attorney-General and Industrial Relations Minister Cameron Dick, the new measures will bring Queensland into line with other states.

The attorney-general said, “Both unions and general Queensland workers have been in touch both with myself and also members of Parliament... There will be many workers that will benefit from these changes.”

Dick specified “health workers, people working in hospitals, firies and ambos [sic], hotel workers who serve Christmas lunches, bus and train drivers who provide public transport and even workers at suburban medical centres” as the primary beneficiaries of the proposed law.

However, United Retail Federation (URF) spokesman Scott Driscoll stressed “Unfortunately at the end of the day this means the price of batteries for toys on Christmas day, the price of bread and milk and everything that has been taken for granted as convenience around this Christmas period is going to go up and go up not only around that period, but beyond as well.”