TRANSCRIPT: RADIO INTERVIEW - 2GB WITH RAY HADLEY - FRIDAY, 6 DECEMBER 2019

E&OE TRANSCRIPT 
RADIO INTERVIEW
2GB RADIO WITH RAY HADLEY
FRIDAY, 6 DECEMBER 2019

SUBJECT: Viagogo ripping off Australians.

RAY HADLEY: I was empowered to see that the Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and the Shadow Minister for the Arts Tony Burke was prompted to talk about this Google decision to lift its advertising ban on the reseller Viagogo. He says, and I agree, it's a terrible decision by Google but I'm looking to Tony to give me some answers and help, he’s on the line, g’day Tony.

TONY BURKE: G’day Ray. Thanks for continuing on this issue. So many people are getting ripped off.

HADLEY: As far as the Government and the Opposition is concerned, is there something you people can do federally to stop these bastards doing what they're doing?

BURKE: The simplest thing would be for Google to just stop taking their money because nobody starts at Viagogo. They just type in the name of a band or a concert or a sporting event, the word tickets and that's where they're told to go. That'd be the simplest. But if it requires government action, there's three or four different ways you can do it. Now we took one of those options to the election but to be honest I don't care which option is used. You can't have a situation where people are forking out big money, if it's a festival or a musical or sporting event, it’s a big part of people's income that they're putting into these events. They buy their tickets through Viagogo, turn up at the door and can't get in at the gate.

HADLEY:  And they're paying in most cases, whether it's an NRL or AFL Grand Final, or another event, an inflated price anyway.

BURKE: That's right. That's right. So you get three different things happen. You either get ripped off with the inflated price, or as well as that the ticket itself is entirely fake. Or the other thing that people do on that site is they sell the same ticket four or five times, so whoever gets to the gate first gets in the door and everybody else gets told ‘no sorry that tickets it's already being used’. Now I live in Sydney so most of the events I go to aren't that far - but a whole lot of people travel to these big events. So they've paid their fee to get there, they've paid accommodation - turn up can't get in the door. And this can be fixed. Now as I say there's different ways you can do it. I don't care whether the Government adopts the method that we put forward of putting a limit on a 10 per cent premium on a ticket, which would break the Viagogo model, or if they come up with a different way of doing it. But we can't have a situation where people keep getting ripped off. We know they're getting ripped off. We know the site where it is and nothing's happening.

HADLEY: You talk about living in Sydney as I do. I went to see Carl Barron, at the packed-out Qudos Bank Arena earlier this year. And while I was at the door or the turnstiles getting through, a young lady had travelled from the Upper Hunter. I think she said Scone or Aberdeen. And they said I'm sorry love you can't come in, the ticket’s not valid. And so I sort of said well where did you get it sweetie? She said oh I got it on the internet. I said give me a look at it and yep, Viagogo. This poor kid had paid a couple of hundred dollars for tickets to come and see Carl Barron, had driven from Scone or Aberdeen, and to turn around and drive back home.

BURKE: Well I'll give you another one. I went with my family a couple of years ago to Bluesfest. So you’re there for the whole of Easter and one of the kids was excited that one of her friends was coming. Third day into Bluesfest I said ‘What happened? We haven’t seen her yet.’ And she said oh no they couldn't get in. So they paid to get to Byron Bay. They'd paid for five days’ accommodation. They paid for a family, it would have been thousands of dollars, the ticket off that site. And they got nothing. And all the time Google is directing people to go there and taking advertising money. If Google wants any layer of trust from the public, they should stop taking any Viagogo’s money right now.

HADLEY: Okay well that's a forlorn hope. They're worried about the bottom line. They'll just keep stealing money from us via this mob. What can we do in terms of legislation? I mean you'll know more about it than me. If we get the Government and you on the same page, what can we do to simply say no they can't operate in our country unlawfully as they are at the moment?
 
BURKE: The simplest thing is you would just say you can't put more than a 10 per cent premium on tickets. That would break their business model. They just can't function in Australia if that's the law. But if the Government wants to do it a different way. I don't care. I just want it fixed. And if the Government comes up with a different way of doing it they'll be getting cooperation from me.

HADLEY:  Okay well let's work on it over Christmas and New Year and hopefully come up with a solution by the start of 2020 to stop seeing people treated in the manner which they are. I’ll talk to the Minister on the opposite side, Mr Fletcher, and try to get him on the same page as you and me so that we can stop this nonsense in its tracks.

BURKE: That’d be great if you can help broker that Ray.

HADLEY: Okay. Thanks Tony. All the best, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year mate.

BURKE: Merry Christmas to you too mate.
 
ENDS