Page 2718 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 16 September 2014
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This issue will also apply where the minister is considering whether to give notice of protection of ticketing arrangements. An amendment will provide that the minister must be satisfied on “reasonable grounds” that the ticketing protections are necessary, having regard to factors already set out in clause 38 of the bill. Although not specifically raised by the committee, this amendment is consequential to the issues raised by them, and therefore necessary to properly respond to the issues they have raised.
I note there has been keen interest in the ticketing protections available under the bill. The proposed amendment will also have the effect of clarifying that the protections will only be available where necessary to respond to the needs of event organisers.
When considering whether to enliven ticketing protections, the minister is also required to consider both the likely demand for tickets to an event and the availability of tickets to the public. When considering these factors, the minister may consider whether an event organiser is ensuring adequate or transparent information about the availability to the public of tickets for each proposed event.
The offences under the ticketing protections apply maximum penalties of 30 penalty units and are not punishable by imprisonment. The most likely way these offences would be pursued would be by summons. Only in very limited circumstances would there be sufficient grounds to arrest a person engaging in ticket scalping. Given the nature of the ticketing offences, the likelihood that the police would arrest an alleged offender is remote.
Similarly, the power of the minister to make variations to event declarations will be amended so that it too is subject to a “reasonable grounds” requirement and is disallowable. This will provide further safeguards in relation to amendments to a declaration. Minor amendments will be moved to how prohibited items are described to ensure that those descriptions are not overly broad.
The committee raised a number of matters relating to safeguards for crowd control powers in the bill. In response the government will move a series of amendments to address some of these concerns, including amendments that will make certain that searches are conducted appropriately.
The committee has also raised a number of issues with respect to whether giving authorised people a power to stop, detain and search a person without a need to be satisfied that an offence has been or is likely to be committed is necessary. The committee has asked why the existing general law protections are not sufficient.
The committee is right to draw the Assembly’s attention to these powers. The powers are extensive and they do limit important human rights. I therefore refer members to pages 2 to 4 of the explanatory statement. It is the government’s view that these powers are necessary to provide for the safe hosting of major events.
I also refer members to section 10 of the current Major Events Security Act 2000, which provides police officers with a power to conduct a frisk search in the same
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