Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I am going to take full advantage of the fact that the standing orders allow me not to keep to the topic at all. I am going to deliver, consecutively, a series of different speeches. Lest anyone wonders where the common thread is, that was it!

First, a number of festivals for people of various faiths are going to be celebrated in the coming weeks, and I will go through those in turn. It is, of course, by no means a full list. On behalf of Labor I extend my best wishes to Buddhist communities in Australia and around the world for Vesak. Vesak commemorates three significant stages in Buddha's life—his birth, enlightenment and death—and is usually observed during the first full moon in May, but in some regions during the new moon.

The teachings of Buddha encompass principles that foster peace, compassion and the realisation of true happiness. At the heart of these beliefs are the four noble truths, which outline the stages of suffering, its causes, and the path that leads to the end of suffering, or enlightenment. Around the world, colourful lotus lanterns adorn temples and are released into the air. The symbolism of the lotus flower comes from the belief that lotus flowers emerged from the first seven steps Buddha took after his birth.

Over the weekend and this coming week, Buddhist communities around Australia will celebrate Buddha's birthday by making offerings of fruit, flowers and incense at temples, offering prayers and performing the ritual of bathing Buddha in rosewater, to symbolise a fresh start in life. Nan Tien Temple, in Wollongong, holds a two-day festival each year at Darling Harbour that attracts people of all cultures, faiths and backgrounds and unites Buddhists from all traditions in ceremonious celebration, entertaining crowds with music, food from various regions, and the opportunity to share blessings and hope for a brighter future. The festival offers us the opportunity to be guided by the fundamental principles that make up the essence of modern multicultural Australia: peace for all, unity as a nation and acceptance of all. To all those celebrating: happy Vesak.

On behalf of Labor, I want to extend my best wishes to the Mandaean communities in Australia and around the world on the marking of the birthday of John the Baptist. Mandaeism is a 2,000-year-old faith that has its roots in ancient Mesopotamia. The ritual of baptism is the focal aspect of worship in Mandaeism. Here in Australia Mandaean communities perform ancient rituals of bathing in the Nepean River, in Penrith, every Sunday. Dressed in white ceremonial robes, men women and children immerse their bodies in water as a symbol of purification and connection to the ancient rituals of the baptism of John the Baptist. For those of us of the various forms of Christian faith—there are a number in the chamber, including myself—this is a faith where the belief is that John the Baptist is a prophet calling for somebody who has not yet come. So, all the teachings of John the Baptist are where the Mandaean faith anchors itself. The Mandaean community has endured an extraordinary amount of persecution and hardship, fleeing Iraq and Iran and settling in different parts of the world. Australia is home to about 10,000 followers of the Mandaean faith, who have developed a strong relationship with community and the Australian society.

I will never forget my first meeting with members of the Mandaean community. It was in this building, more than a decade ago. I was shadow immigration minister at the time and the then member for Prospect, now member for McMahon, had brought a group in to meet with me. The thing that was extraordinary about the meeting was that it was the first time I had ever the Aramaic language being spoken. The Aramaic language, the language of what many of us would call the Holy Land at the time of the New Testament, is still spoken by the Mandaean community. While I did not understand a word, the richness of the language made it a moment that has always stayed with me.

We are privileged that the Australian story is deep and wide. It tells a story of a nation of many cultures, faiths and backgrounds, fused together to represent the essence of a successful, modern multicultural society. That is our Australia.

On behalf of Labor I want to extend my best wishes to Muslim communities in Australia and around the world, who will soon be observing the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar and begins at the sighting of the crescent moon, lasting for 29 to 30 days. At the break of dawn on the first day of Ramadan, Muslims will embark on a month-long journey of fasting, prayer and spiritual reflection. Abstaining from food and drinks, Muslims turn to the Islamic teachings of the Qur'an to re-evaluate their lives and renew their faith in God by giving charity to the less fortunate and strengthening relationships with family. The end of the fasting day is symbolised by the sounding of the call to prayer. After breaking the fast with three dates, according to tradition, family and friends gather to share meals and attend ritual evening prayers at their mosque.

The suburb I live in is Punchbowl, and the suburb next door, Lakemba, is extraordinary during Ramadan. People of all faiths come from all over Sydney, and the suburb is alive the whole night. I would encourage anybody to turn up at any time of night. For the first couple of nights it is very quiet. I would not recommend that you go then; most people are home with their families. But after that, if you are in Sydney during that month, please visit Lakemba at any time of night and you will find that the welcome is very warm and very genuine. So, as the crescent moon appears on the eve of Ramadan, I wish all those who are observing it a blessed and peaceful month of worship, love and prosperity. Ramadan Kareem.

On behalf of Labor I want to extend my best wishes to Jewish communities in Australia and around the world for the joyous occasion of Shavuot. Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments form the moral basis for the Jewish faith and for other faiths around the world. It is also a harvest festival and the start of the season when ancient Israelite farmers would bring their first fruits to the temple in Jerusalem and celebrate the blessings of God given to the Jewish nation. Here in Australia it marks the beginning of winter and is a time for spiritual connection with God. Families and communities will gather at the synagogue to hear the readings of the Torah and eat dairy foods, which is a customary tradition. The celebration of Shavuot offers all of us the opportunity to reflect on the moral and ethical foundations of our society and to continue work towards building a prosperous nation of diverse cultures, faiths and backgrounds, celebrating the essence of modern multicultural Australia, a nation of vibrant cultures, faiths and backgrounds all united under one banner of unity. Happy Shavuot.

On behalf of Labor I want to extend my best wishes to the Baha'i community in Australia and around the world in commemoration of the ascension of Baha'u'llah, This day marks the death of Baha'u'llah, the prophet founder of the Baha'i faith. This death was only in 1892. It is one of the youngest of the various faiths in Australia. It is a solemn occasion that is usually marked at the time it occurred—around 3 am. It is one of nine major Baha'i holy days in the year on which work is suspended. Commemorations this year take place on 28 May. Baha'i communities in Australia and around the world will come together at that time to read special prayers and readings and to remember the life of their prophet. Commemoration culminates in the reading of a tablet known as the Tablet of Visitation. This tablet is also commonly read at his shrine, which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. There will also be a commemorative service held in the Baha'i house of worship at Ingleside, Sydney. The traditions of the Baha'i faith reflect the strength of Australia's multicultural community and emphasise religious freedom, which is intrinsic to our national identity, and reaffirms our hopes for the continuity of our vibrant multicultural nation.

I next want to acknowledge the Sikh communities in Australia, who, on 16 June, here and around the world will be commemorating the martyrdom of Arjan Dev Sahib. The date marks the anniversary of his martyrdom. He is the fifth of the 10 revered Sikhs who made the ultimate sacrifice of their life to establish the Sikh faith. The Sikh's story of his sacrifice was that he was tortured for five days by the government of the Mughal emperor, and on the sixth day, after being taken to the river to bathe, disappeared and was never seen again. The day of remembrance is often observed by readings of the Sikh holy book, musical recitation of hymns from the Sri Granth Sahib, the central religious scripture in the Sikh faith, and lectures on Sikhism. The Sikh community in Australia has played a significant role in the Australian story for more than a century and continues to play an integral role in the fabric of our modern multicultural society through contributions to community and the broader Australian society.

With this one, you will work out that the chief of staff in my office is married to someone who is from France. On the occasion of their national holiday, I have been encouraged to extend to the French people around the world and in Australia the heartiest and best wishes and congratulations of federal Labor in advance—putting down the marker now for Bastille Day, which is some time away. But my chief of staff thought we would sneak this one in now. Named after the infamous Parisian prison fortress that was invaded by revolutionary forces in the 18th century, Bastille Day commemorates the beginning of the French Revolution. I know for many people, particularly those living far from home, it is not remembering the storming of the Bastille; it is a celebration of French culture. That day, people come together to eat, drink and celebrate.

For many years now, Australia and France have enjoyed deep and friendly relations in all political, economic and cultural areas, underpinned by a shared sacrifice in two world wars. We currently share strong diplomatic links and work together in global forums on important issues, such as the economy and climate change. France is a nation with a proud history and a sense of justice. It also is home to people who enjoy life to the full. On that special occasion, I wish everyone celebrating happiness and prosperity—a particular shout-out to Sean and Gaelle.

In the time still available, I want to refer to two things in the arts portfolio. First of all, at the recent 44th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards held in Pasadena, California, an Australian animated series for children, Beat Bugs, won the award for Outstanding Writing in a Preschool Animated Program for local Australian writers Josh Wakely, Cleon Prineas and Joshua Mapleston. This is a big moment for writer, director and producer Josh Wakely, who created the series, which centres around five young bugs who live in an overgrown suburban backyard—often like mine, I guess—and learn life lessons while having adventures. Josh spent years pulling off the impossible and secured the rights to the Beatles' songs, which are then woven into the narrative as performed by contemporary recording artists such as Pink and Sia. Importantly, he also brought on board Daniel Johns, former lead singer of silverchair, who arranged and produced the music for the series as musical director.

Josh has described the series as 'about teaching kids, but with a bit of humour and not in a patronising way'. The show's theme song is 'All You Need Is Love'. These elements led to the series being backed for broadcast in Australia on the Seven Network and internationally on Netflix. The multi-award-winning production also won an AWGIE Award in the animation category and an AACTA Award for Best Children's Television Series in 2016. Produced by local Australian company Beyond Productions, the production also included a worldwide team of writers and animators in Australia, including upcoming Australian talent. The series is yet another world-class production driven by and featuring Australian talent. Congratulations to Josh and to all the team—I add Rebecca Graham, one of the associate producers—and I encourage them all to keep telling great stories.

I want to refer to an issue that I expect I will be making a number of contributions on. It is not an attack on the government in any way. It is establishing that there is a problem that we as a parliament are going to have to find a way of dealing with. It is what is happening to the major-production live music industry in terms of ticket sales. There has been some attention given already to what is happening with bots. Robot systems are set up, and the bots basically clean out all the tickets the moment they go online so that people are left only able to buy tickets from scalpers. The additional issue I want to refer to in my contribution today is what is happening with fake tickets, and tickets that are real but are sold multiple times. Effectively, what happens is that someone buys one real ticket, and, because a ticket can now be printed off on a computer, they on-sell that ticket to as many as a dozen people. Whoever turns up to the venue first gets in the door. Everybody else turns up with a ticket that the scanner says cannot be allowed for admission because it has already been used. Similarly, some people are turning up with tickets that are entirely fake.

We need to bear in mind who we are talking about. For many Australians, a ticket to a music festival or to a major performance is one of the biggest discretionary purchases they will make during the course of a year. This is a really big purchase when people make it. Simply saying to people, 'Well, you need to be more careful; you need to make sure that you're buying your tickets from someone who's reputable,' is a bit hard when all the search engines are pointing people in the same direction.

I have had a number of music promoters say to me that, when people are turning up to venues and finding that their tickets are not real, one of the regular sites they have purchased from is a site called viagogo. I have heard of incidents, for example, from Frontier. When they last had Justin Bieber, he did not tour New Zealand. They had people fly from New Zealand to Sydney to attend the concert, only to find on arrival that their ticket was fake. I was at Bluesfest over Easter. One of my daughters who was with me was expecting to catch up with some friends of hers whose whole family had gone up to Byron Bay to attend Bluesfest for Easter. I asked her at the end, 'How come we never saw them?' She said, 'Oh, it turned out they had fake tickets.' I asked her to check where they had come from. The answer: viagogo.

I did the check myself, and I would encourage members to check on every search engine you can. Sometimes we get into Google bashing and things like that, but it is not just Google. You can go through Google. You can go through Bing. I even tried that DuckDuckGo search engine. Pick a major international artist, type 'tickets' and see what comes up as an early item, often the first item, telling you where to go for your tickets. Always on the first page—I went through Montane, the Lumineers, Santana, Midnight Oil, Julia Jacklin and Jimmy Barnes—viagogo came up as the site, and it says 'viagogo—official site', meaning it is the official site of viagogo. But if you are someone who might buy a ticket every two or three years and is not constantly out there buying tickets—and, if you are constantly out there buying tickets, it is a pretty expensive way for people to be getting entertainment, particularly if it is these major artists—you see the words 'official site' and you click through.

We need to find a way of making sure that when tickets say that they are not transferable and not to be resold we acknowledge that the site doing the reselling is engaging unlawfully and, when they are selling something that turns out to not be valid, they are engaging in theft. When they have a reputation of doing this repeatedly, can we continue with a situation where the search engines are receiving advertising dollars to continue to promote sites like that?

Viagogo's official policy is that, if you turn up and it turns out to be a fake ticket, they will give you your money back. That is not much good if you have flown to be at the venue. That is not much good if you have been looking forward to going to this particular gig, thinking you have got your tickets and therefore not going anywhere else, and by the time you turn up and discover that your tickets are fake it is impossible to get comparable seats, or possibly any seats, at any of the remaining gigs if they exist.

We are talking about a consumer affairs issue that has hit the music industry and is hitting everyday Australians on one of their largest discretionary purchases. In the first instance, we should find out if there is a way of working with the search engines to get a sensible outcome here, but we cannot allow there to be a continued situation where companies effectively operating in Australia are receiving advertising dollars to direct Australians to purchase stolen or illegal goods. That cannot be a valid commercial arrangement. It is happening every day. It is happening more and more. There is no benefit to the Australian economy. There is only loss for people who love live music. Whether it is turning up to a music festival or turning up to a major artist, whether they be Australian or international, we must start acting now so that, if someone buys a ticket, they know that they can turn up and get entry to the music they love.

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