Tougher law to cover streakers

Disrupting play will incur heavier penalties under the legislation. Photo / Herald on Sunday

MPs have agreed to tough new penalties for ticket scalpers and streakers at the Rugby World Cup in 2011.

The commerce select committee considering the Major Events Management Bill yesterday recommended just minor changes to the legislation intended to protect the commercial interests of organisers and sponsors of the Rugby World Cup.

The main purpose of the bill is to prohibit "ambush marketing" and provides for advertising and sales "clean zones" around venues.

It also says that any unauthorised entry on to a pitch can result in a jail sentence of upto three months or a fine up of to $5000.

The same punishments apply to anyone throwing objects on to the pitch.

The bill also imposes a $5000 fine on anyone selling or trading a ticket for more than the original saleprice.

The committee said that it did not agree with a submission from Trade Me that it might be found to have broken the law if scalpers used the site for sales without being spotted.

MPs said if internet auction sites set rules and did their best to enforce them, they would not be in breach of the law.

The bill allows the Government to deem that certain major events would be covered by the law.

During the hearings it was made clear that the only events likely to be covered by the new law would be the upcoming world cups for rugby and cricket.

Some submitters wanted the bill to cover a wider range of events such as the Big Day Out and the Bledisloe Cup, but the committee disagreed.

It said that as the law would restrict freedom of speech and business activity, the threshold for an event to qualify should be high.

The committee also amended the bill to ensure that people would still be able to criticise major events and their sponsors.

- NZPA