STOPPING SCALPERS A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 1

Transcription

1 STOPPING SCALPERS A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 1

2 We re ready. Over the last four years, we ve been working hard developing our vision for the future of South Australia. Not just policies, but a series of achievable milestones that have been crafted for the long-term benefit of our state. Our focus will be MORE JOBS. LOWER COSTS. BETTER SERVICES. We ve got a strong plan for real change. A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 2

3 WHAT WE LL DO If elected in March 2018, a Marshall Liberal Government will take a number of strong measures to protect the public from scalpers. We will: We will make the relevant legislative changes to the Fair Trading Act to make it an offence to resell a ticket to an event for more than 10%, plus booking fees and charges. These changes will not require a major event to be declared first Outlaw the use of ticket bots Provide affected parties such as ticketing agencies, venue operators, artists and sports codes with the right to commence proceedings against people using bots and selling tickets above the cap Prohibit the publication or hosting of an advertisement for ticket resale above the cap Require event organisers to publicly disclose details of ticket allocations for public sale, including the number of tickets A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 3

4 MORE JOBS. LOWER COSTS. BETTER SERVICES. WHY WE RE DOING IT The Weatherill Labor Government has failed to protect people wanting to attend major events like the Showdown, Big Bash and music concerts from being forced to pay massive prices to ticket scalpers. The current law only applies to the rare occasions a major event has been formally declared. Even then, there has been no serious attempt to enforce the law. It is an offence for a person to sell tickets for a declared major event at a price higher than 10 percent of the face value of the ticket without the permission of the organiser. But promoters are loath to go through the expensive, cumbersome and time-consuming ordeal of getting a major event declaration and we re not aware of a single scalper being prosecuted despite the prevalence of this denial of fair access to tickets for members of the public who love sporting events and live entertainment. All too often, fans log on to a ticketing website only to find that as soon as tickets go on sale to the general public, the dreaded words, allocation exhausted, are displayed. These disappointed fans are then shocked when they find out that there are plenty of tickets available on resale sites, but for hugely inflated prices. For example, for this year s first 2017 Showdown between the Crows and the Power, scalpers had swooped on tickets and were looking to profit by up to 300% on the face value of the ticket. This makes a mockery of the Weatherill Government s claim that scalping isn t an issue. How do scalpers obtain tickets when devoted sports and entertainment fans can t? Increasingly, computer programs, or bots, are being used that enable scalpers to buy up tickets in remarkably quick time. The use of bots allows security measures on ticketing websites to be cheated so that large numbers of tickets can be purchased. This not only blocks fans but enables the scalpers to take a free ride on the back of organisers who run the risk of staging events. Other states have introduced measures to prevent scalping to send a clear message to these opportunists that they are not welcome. The Weatherill Government requires a major event declaration to be made before any protection can be provided against scalpers. The public deserve much more effective protection than this. A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 4

5 STEVEN MARSHALL MP State Liberal Leader Phone: A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 5