CitationJet
6th Mar 2007, 00:19
The upshot - no aerial advertising, ie banners, balloons, sky writing, aircraft with advertising painted on etc, within view of a major events venue.
No flying within sight of the MCG during the Grand Final etc. Forget about sky writing or flying a balloon in virtually any part of metro Melbourne when an event is on.
Both civil and criminal penalties.
Any views??
See Minister's Speech below -
JAMES MERLINO, MP
Minister for Sport, Recreation and Youth Affairs
Second reading
Mr MERLINO (Minister for Sport, Recreation and Youth Affairs) -- I move:
That this bill be now read a second time.
Victoria is Australia's leading host of major events. The government recognises the importance of major events to the Victorian economy and is proud of this state's reputation as a host of major events that are the benchmark for the rest of the world.
The purpose of this bill is to prohibit aerial ambush marketing at major events in Victoria. This is in order to preserve an attractive commercial environment for our events and protect Victoria's competitive advantage in the major events market.
Victoria has previously legislated to prohibit aerial ambush marketing at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 12th FINA World Championships.
This bill will place a similar prohibition for other major events in Victoria and will also allow the state and event organisers to pursue civil remedies. The aim is to provide the strongest possible deterrent to aerial ambush marketing at our major events.
Ambush marketing involves the exploitation of events by rival non-sponsor companies, either by suggesting an association with an event where none exists or by intruding at an event through the display of unauthorised advertising. There are currently no legal avenues available in Victoria to prevent ambush marketing in airspace in the vicinity of major events.
The issue of aerial ambush marketing gained prominence around Australia last year with the arrival of the Holden airship, which appeared at the 2006 AFL Grand Final and is visiting events around the country.
Event organisers are heavily dependent on sponsorship. Ambush marketing threatens not only the financial viability of their events, but potentially their ability to schedule events in Victoria, particularly in the face of fierce competition from other states and nations.
Peak sporting organisations including Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia and Racing Victoria have written to the government seeking protection for their events, and the issue has been raised with state governments around
Australia. Other jurisdictions including New Zealand and Queensland have recently proposed or introduced legislation to ban aerial ambush marketing at their events.
This issue is of particular concern in Victoria. We have a prestigious calendar of major events including the Boxing Day Test, the Australian Open, the AFL Grand Final and the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, to name just a few.
These events -- as well as our program of one-off events -- bring enormous economic and social benefits to this state, contributing over $1 billion each year to the Victorian economy.
The investment made by sponsors is absolutely vital to the financial viability of these events.
Sponsors pour millions of dollars into major events to enhance awareness of their brands, in some cases via television coverage to millions of viewers around the world.
In return, event organisers provide exclusive advertising opportunities for their sponsors and are expected to make reasonable efforts to prevent ambush marketing. Where they have entered into agreements with international rights holders, those agreements require them to provide advertising opportunities to certain stakeholders.
Ambush marketers choose to exploit these valuable marketing opportunities without paying for them, in essence taking a 'free ride'. This not only undermines the value of the advertising rights purchased by official sponsors, but puts event organisers at risk of being unable to retain or renew their agreements with sponsors and rights holders.
If no action is taken, the risk for Victoria is that sponsors could withdraw their support for future events, which would have a serious impact on event revenue streams. Further, international rights holders could decide not to bring their events back. These outcomes would clearly damage Victoria's reputation as a leader in the major events industry.
If Victoria is to continue to build on its highly successful investment in major events, we need to take decisive legislative action.
I turn now to key areas of the bill.
Declaration of events
Some of Victoria's most high-profile major events have been specified in the bill to give them immediate protection.
These events, set out in clause 3 of the bill, are the Boxing Day test, the Australian Open Tennis Championships, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, the AFL Grand Final, the Caulfield Cup, the Cox Plate and the four days of the Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington racecourse.
The bill specifies the venues and the event organisers for each of these events. To minimise impacts on the aerial advertising industry, the bill also specifies the precise times of the day during which the bill will apply.
To enable other major events, including one-off national or international events, to be brought under the jurisdiction of the legislation if necessary, clause 4 enables additional major events to be declared by means of an event order made by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the minister, and published in the Government Gazette.
In making a recommendation, the minister must be satisfied that the event is a major event at the international or national level, and that its commercial arrangements and operations would be adversely affected by aerial ambush marketing.
Should a venue, time or event organiser specified in the bill or in an event order need to change for any reason, clause 5 enables the relevant details to be altered by means of a variation order made by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the minister, and published in the Government Gazette.
Control of aerial advertising
Part 3 of the bill establishes an authorisation process for aerial advertising within sight of the venues of specified events, and makes it an indictable offence to display unauthorised aerial advertising within sight of those venues.
It is important to note that these controls only relate to aerial advertising of a commercial nature. Non-commercial aerial advertising -- for example, an individual displaying a personal statement not intended to sell or publicise goods or services -- will not be subject to the bill.
Authorisations to display commercial aerial advertising may be issued by the Secretary of the Department for Victorian Communities if the advertising in question would not adversely affect the commercial arrangements or conduct of an event. The secretary may delegate this authorisation power to a public service executive or a statutory body established for a public purpose, such as the Australian Grand Prix Corporation. The relevant event organiser must be consulted before any authorisation is issued.
Clause 10 of the bill sets significant penalties for the offence of displaying unauthorised aerial advertising. These penalties are 400 penalty units for an individual and 2400 penalty units for a corporation. The penalties are intended to provide a strong level of deterrence, particularly to large corporations, and are considered reasonable when set against the potential damage to an event's commercial agreements, image and reputation.
The offence provision will not apply to emergency services aircraft or aircraft gathering footage for news and current affairs purposes, which are specifically exempted under clause 10.
It should also be noted that under the definition of 'aerial advertising' in the bill, commercial airlines or charter flight operators displaying their normal livery and undertaking their regular flights will not be subject to the controls established by the bill. Hot-air balloon operators undertaking early-morning scenic flights will also effectively be excluded by virtue of the fact that their flights conclude by 9.00 a.m., before the restrictions of the bill commence on the day of an event.
Civil remedies
In addition to the offence regime, part 4 of the bill enables the state and event organisers to seek injunctions, and enables any person suffering loss, injury or damage as a result of unauthorised aerial advertising to take action for damages.
The inclusion of these civil remedies will provide event organisers in particular with a greater range of options in responding to the problem of aerial ambush marketing, and will boost the deterrent effect of the legislation.
Enforcement
It is intended that authorised officers will enforce the offence provisions of this bill. Part 5 of the bill enables the secretary to appoint authorised officers who have appropriate skills and experience. Part 5 also outlines their inspection powers, including powers under warrant to enter specified premises and to search for and seize items reasonably believed to be connected with an offence under the bill. Part 6 of the bill enables the secretary or a person authorised by the secretary to bring proceedings.
Finally part 7 makes relevant amendments to other acts, including an amendment to the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 to enable the indictable offence under clause 10 to be tried summarily in the Magistrates Court.
Aerial ambush marketing has the potential to undermine legitimate commercial sponsorship of major events and to damage Victoria's ability to retain existing events and win new events. The measures presented in this bill provide an effective regime to deter aerial ambush marketers and to put a stop to this unfair and unwelcome practice.
I commend the bill to the house.
No flying within sight of the MCG during the Grand Final etc. Forget about sky writing or flying a balloon in virtually any part of metro Melbourne when an event is on.
Both civil and criminal penalties.
Any views??
See Minister's Speech below -
JAMES MERLINO, MP
Minister for Sport, Recreation and Youth Affairs
Second reading
Mr MERLINO (Minister for Sport, Recreation and Youth Affairs) -- I move:
That this bill be now read a second time.
Victoria is Australia's leading host of major events. The government recognises the importance of major events to the Victorian economy and is proud of this state's reputation as a host of major events that are the benchmark for the rest of the world.
The purpose of this bill is to prohibit aerial ambush marketing at major events in Victoria. This is in order to preserve an attractive commercial environment for our events and protect Victoria's competitive advantage in the major events market.
Victoria has previously legislated to prohibit aerial ambush marketing at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 12th FINA World Championships.
This bill will place a similar prohibition for other major events in Victoria and will also allow the state and event organisers to pursue civil remedies. The aim is to provide the strongest possible deterrent to aerial ambush marketing at our major events.
Ambush marketing involves the exploitation of events by rival non-sponsor companies, either by suggesting an association with an event where none exists or by intruding at an event through the display of unauthorised advertising. There are currently no legal avenues available in Victoria to prevent ambush marketing in airspace in the vicinity of major events.
The issue of aerial ambush marketing gained prominence around Australia last year with the arrival of the Holden airship, which appeared at the 2006 AFL Grand Final and is visiting events around the country.
Event organisers are heavily dependent on sponsorship. Ambush marketing threatens not only the financial viability of their events, but potentially their ability to schedule events in Victoria, particularly in the face of fierce competition from other states and nations.
Peak sporting organisations including Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia and Racing Victoria have written to the government seeking protection for their events, and the issue has been raised with state governments around
Australia. Other jurisdictions including New Zealand and Queensland have recently proposed or introduced legislation to ban aerial ambush marketing at their events.
This issue is of particular concern in Victoria. We have a prestigious calendar of major events including the Boxing Day Test, the Australian Open, the AFL Grand Final and the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, to name just a few.
These events -- as well as our program of one-off events -- bring enormous economic and social benefits to this state, contributing over $1 billion each year to the Victorian economy.
The investment made by sponsors is absolutely vital to the financial viability of these events.
Sponsors pour millions of dollars into major events to enhance awareness of their brands, in some cases via television coverage to millions of viewers around the world.
In return, event organisers provide exclusive advertising opportunities for their sponsors and are expected to make reasonable efforts to prevent ambush marketing. Where they have entered into agreements with international rights holders, those agreements require them to provide advertising opportunities to certain stakeholders.
Ambush marketers choose to exploit these valuable marketing opportunities without paying for them, in essence taking a 'free ride'. This not only undermines the value of the advertising rights purchased by official sponsors, but puts event organisers at risk of being unable to retain or renew their agreements with sponsors and rights holders.
If no action is taken, the risk for Victoria is that sponsors could withdraw their support for future events, which would have a serious impact on event revenue streams. Further, international rights holders could decide not to bring their events back. These outcomes would clearly damage Victoria's reputation as a leader in the major events industry.
If Victoria is to continue to build on its highly successful investment in major events, we need to take decisive legislative action.
I turn now to key areas of the bill.
Declaration of events
Some of Victoria's most high-profile major events have been specified in the bill to give them immediate protection.
These events, set out in clause 3 of the bill, are the Boxing Day test, the Australian Open Tennis Championships, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, the AFL Grand Final, the Caulfield Cup, the Cox Plate and the four days of the Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington racecourse.
The bill specifies the venues and the event organisers for each of these events. To minimise impacts on the aerial advertising industry, the bill also specifies the precise times of the day during which the bill will apply.
To enable other major events, including one-off national or international events, to be brought under the jurisdiction of the legislation if necessary, clause 4 enables additional major events to be declared by means of an event order made by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the minister, and published in the Government Gazette.
In making a recommendation, the minister must be satisfied that the event is a major event at the international or national level, and that its commercial arrangements and operations would be adversely affected by aerial ambush marketing.
Should a venue, time or event organiser specified in the bill or in an event order need to change for any reason, clause 5 enables the relevant details to be altered by means of a variation order made by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the minister, and published in the Government Gazette.
Control of aerial advertising
Part 3 of the bill establishes an authorisation process for aerial advertising within sight of the venues of specified events, and makes it an indictable offence to display unauthorised aerial advertising within sight of those venues.
It is important to note that these controls only relate to aerial advertising of a commercial nature. Non-commercial aerial advertising -- for example, an individual displaying a personal statement not intended to sell or publicise goods or services -- will not be subject to the bill.
Authorisations to display commercial aerial advertising may be issued by the Secretary of the Department for Victorian Communities if the advertising in question would not adversely affect the commercial arrangements or conduct of an event. The secretary may delegate this authorisation power to a public service executive or a statutory body established for a public purpose, such as the Australian Grand Prix Corporation. The relevant event organiser must be consulted before any authorisation is issued.
Clause 10 of the bill sets significant penalties for the offence of displaying unauthorised aerial advertising. These penalties are 400 penalty units for an individual and 2400 penalty units for a corporation. The penalties are intended to provide a strong level of deterrence, particularly to large corporations, and are considered reasonable when set against the potential damage to an event's commercial agreements, image and reputation.
The offence provision will not apply to emergency services aircraft or aircraft gathering footage for news and current affairs purposes, which are specifically exempted under clause 10.
It should also be noted that under the definition of 'aerial advertising' in the bill, commercial airlines or charter flight operators displaying their normal livery and undertaking their regular flights will not be subject to the controls established by the bill. Hot-air balloon operators undertaking early-morning scenic flights will also effectively be excluded by virtue of the fact that their flights conclude by 9.00 a.m., before the restrictions of the bill commence on the day of an event.
Civil remedies
In addition to the offence regime, part 4 of the bill enables the state and event organisers to seek injunctions, and enables any person suffering loss, injury or damage as a result of unauthorised aerial advertising to take action for damages.
The inclusion of these civil remedies will provide event organisers in particular with a greater range of options in responding to the problem of aerial ambush marketing, and will boost the deterrent effect of the legislation.
Enforcement
It is intended that authorised officers will enforce the offence provisions of this bill. Part 5 of the bill enables the secretary to appoint authorised officers who have appropriate skills and experience. Part 5 also outlines their inspection powers, including powers under warrant to enter specified premises and to search for and seize items reasonably believed to be connected with an offence under the bill. Part 6 of the bill enables the secretary or a person authorised by the secretary to bring proceedings.
Finally part 7 makes relevant amendments to other acts, including an amendment to the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 to enable the indictable offence under clause 10 to be tried summarily in the Magistrates Court.
Aerial ambush marketing has the potential to undermine legitimate commercial sponsorship of major events and to damage Victoria's ability to retain existing events and win new events. The measures presented in this bill provide an effective regime to deter aerial ambush marketers and to put a stop to this unfair and unwelcome practice.
I commend the bill to the house.