Prime minister Anthony Albanese declared on Sunday that Thursday 22 September will be a one-off public holiday as a memorial for the recently passed Queen Elizabeth II.
In response, there is some consternation in the business community about the impacts of a day off at such short notice.
Similarly the big question for readers of The Motley Fool will be whether the ASX will be open for trade that day.
The ASX response
An ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX) spokesperson originally told The Motley Fool on Monday that an official announcement about 22 September would be coming soon.
"ASX is ordinarily closed on national public holidays. We expect that to be the case on the 22nd too," said the spokesperson.
"However, given the circumstances of this public holiday, there are some logistic and technical matters that we're working through at the moment, including with customers, before we can confirm."
The ASX then provided official confirmation late Tuesday that the local bourse would, in fact, close on 22 September, stating:
"In line with the Australian Government's decision to hold a National Day of Mourning and Public Holiday to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday 22 September 2022, ASX has declared that the ASX Trade (equities) market will be closed on that day"
"While the relatively short notice presents operational, technical and business challenges for ASX and the markets, ASX appreciates the support of its stakeholders to help honour the significance of the occasion."
