Mr J. BULL (Sunbury) (16:06:20) — I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to debate on the Major Events Legislation Amendment (Ticket Scalping and Other Matters) Bill 2017. As the member for Wendouree and the member for Broadmeadows have both spoken about in their very good contributions, this bill is fundamentally about fairness and about ensuring that Victoria’s world-class major events program is enhanced by sound legislation that provides those additional safeguards and those additional protections around ticket sales and purchases.

It must be noted that Victoria’s events calendar is the envy of all other states and territories across our nation but also the envy of many cities right across the world. We know that literally millions of people visit our state each and every year to enjoy all that it has to offer, which is boosted of course by the outstanding events calendar which a number of honourable members have mentioned this afternoon. Of course we also have a wonderful tourism sector. It is a tourism sector that offers so much — it is diverse, it is dynamic and it creates thousands of jobs. We are blessed to have wonderful places in this state to stay — wonderful accommodation venues — and terrific places to eat and recreate, and of course those events that draw so many in each and every year. We are indeed the best state in the nation.

I just wanted to point to some data that was released today that shows more overseas visitors are choosing to spend their time and valuable tourism dollars in Victoria, boosting local businesses and creating jobs. Victoria welcomed 2.8 million international visitors who spent $7.6 billion in the 12 months to September. These rates were well above the national average both for spend and for nights accommodation. Importantly we know that regional Victoria is also benefiting in this space. Spending on wine, on gifts and on activities is up by 18.6 per cent compared to the national average growth of 7.2 per cent, so it is more than double. Events like the Cadel Evans road race, the Daylesford ChillOut Festival and the MotoGP at Phillip Island keep visitors in these regions, and that is important for local economies and once again important for jobs.

The member for Macedon will be very pleased to know that Daylesford and the Macedon Ranges have welcomed more overnight visitors than they did the year before, boosted by an impressive rate of 43.6 per cent. That is outstanding news for our regions and certainly is something that we want to continue. The world’s most livable city recorded an international visitation with expenditure up almost 13 per cent to $7.1 billion in the same period. These are all terrific numbers, but most importantly they continue to keep Victoria at the forefront of tourism and of a very strong visitor economy.

As tourism grows and our population grows we on this side of the house are investing in a huge program of infrastructure works to keep our state thriving. Why is this important? Because we need to be able to ensure that we get these hundreds of thousands of people to and from those events each and every year. As people move to those events on road and rail we know that important infrastructure projects that are being delivered by the Andrews Labor government — like Melbourne Metro, the five new stations, two 9-kilometre tunnels, getting rid of 50 level crossings, improving safety and congestion, building the West Gate tunnel, the CityLink Tulla widening project and the M80 Ring Road and Monash upgrades — are all critically important not just for those who live and work in the state but also for those who wish to come here to attend major sporting events and a whole range of other events that have been mentioned by other members this afternoon.

Major events and sports are fundamentally popular in my electorate. I know that those in Sunbury, Tullamarine, Gladstone Park, Diggers Rest, Bulla and Gowanbrae enjoy and love these major events. However, what they do not enjoy is being ripped off or missing out because of a poorly managed ticket system or ticketing practices. This is fundamentally where this bill is about fairness and about making some major changes that help to address some of these practices. The purpose of the bill is to amend the Major Sporting Events Act 2009 to expand it to cover non-sporting major events such as cultural events, theatre, concerts, gallery exhibitions and festivals, many of which have been mentioned, in relation to ticket scalping provisions. The bill will also, importantly, empower the minister to make a major event ticketing declaration which will apply new ticket scalping offences to both major sporting events and other major events across the state.

The bill proposes changes which will expand the current ticket scalping provisions in the act and create a new major event ticket declaration that may apply to major events other than sporting events. It will also see changes as to what constitutes ticket scalping and a simplification of the processes required for event organisers, making it more streamlined, less of an administrative burden and quicker to obtain. We know that there are a whole range of provisions that have been mentioned in strengthening the system around ticketing. As others have mentioned, the Andrews Labor government needs to ensure that its legislation matches those practices that exist today and certainly those practices that evolve.

A number of members have mentioned the evolution of the internet when it comes to ticket sales. I am not sure of the numbers off the top of my head in terms of those who buy tickets online or those who buy them in person or through other methods, but my suspicion is that the online purchasing of tickets has grown rapidly and will continue to grow rapidly as people move to smartphones, hand-held devices and a whole range of other things to be able to get their tickets quite quickly. Of course what that then presents is a whole range of problems that can arise in terms of how those tickets are managed, purchased and, more importantly, as the bill deals with, how those tickets may then be onsold. That is certainly something that is addressed in this bill.

Tickets will not be able to be resold or advertised for sale at more than 10 per cent above the face ticket value, and there are penalties for scalping which can range from $790 to $475 000 — a very significant fine — depending on the nature of the offence. We know that the bill creates a new category of authorised ticketing officers to deal specifically with existing and new ticket scalping provisions in the act. Authorised officers will be involved in monitoring websites and will be granted enforcement powers including seizure, temporary surrender and retention of tickets. We also know that the officers will be able to commence proceedings on behalf of the department where it sees fit.

Where a major ticketing declaration has been made, event organisers will be required to ensure that the ticket price is displayed on the face of the tickets. Previously under the act a ticketing declaration required the event organiser to prepare a ticketing scheme. Under the proposed legislation the event organiser will not be required to do this. This is welcomed because it will reduce the administrative burden and make the process of declaring the event more efficient.

We know there are other jurisdictions that deal with ticket scalping in different ways. There were recent changes that went through the New South Wales Parliament that have seen a prohibition on reselling tickets to events for any amount above the original acquisition cost of the ticket. We know there are a range of other measures that have been put in place by other jurisdictions. In Queensland it is an offence to resell or purchase a ticket to a major sporting facility event for a price greater than 10 per cent above the face value of the ticket. There are different provisions in South Australia and the ACT. I know that many of these provisions that are in the detail of this bill, as I mentioned earlier, will certainly be welcomed by the communities in my electorate.

The Andrews Labor government stands for a fair ticketing system, one that gives everyone a fair go. We support the fantastic major events calendar that we have in this state both through investment and through the improved infrastructure that I spoke about earlier to be able to get people to and from these events and cater for increasing demand. I would like to commend the Minister for Sport, Minister for Tourism and Major Events and Minister for Veterans for his commitment to seeing sport and these major events go from strength to strength. What is important is that we as a state continue to evolve and to create legislation that deals with issues that are presented today, and I think this bill certainly does that. I commend the bill to the house.