Perth Voice Interactive

THE Australian Competition Consumer Commission is taking ticket reseller Viagogo to federal court for allegedly misleading punters.

In June the Voice reported Perth federal MP Tim Hammond was calling for a crackdown on sites selling dodgy tickets.

One of the companies he named in parliament was Viagogo, a Swiss-based website that resells tickets at highly-inflated prices as well as invalid tickets that see punters get turned away.

He said it was harming local venues like the Astor Theatre, who was unfairly copping a serve from patrons who’d bought phoney tickets from official-looking third party websites like Viagogo.

The ACCC is alleging Viagogo breached Australian consumer law by making false representations, pretended tickets were scarce when there were still plenty left, and “failed to disclose significant and unavoidable fees upfront in the ticket price” (some of their booking fees were up to $91).

Scammed

The Astor Theatre has welcomed the news that the ACCC was taking action, reporting via their Facebook page: “Don’t ever buy tickets from Viagogo. We unfortunately had to deny entry to 27 patrons to Rhys Darby on Friday night who were scammed on the Viagogo site purchasing [non-valid] tickets”.

Bigger venues have been hit by it too. WA’s commissioner for consumer protection David Hillyard announced on Monday that the bulk of invalid tickets to Perth Arena events were being sold through Viagogo.

Over 350 patrons were turned away from events at Perth Arena in the past five months because they’d bought phoney tickets from resellers.

“In 245 of these cases tickets had been purchased from Viagogo, with 98 purchased from Ticketmaster Resale and 11 from other lower profile sites,” Mr Hillyard said.

“So far this year Consumer Protection has received 45 complaints in relation to Viagogo ticket sales, compared to only nine for the whole of last year.”

Mr Hillyard says: “We have been negotiating with Geneva-based Viagogo to ensure that they understand that Australian consumers have legal rights and to ensure that they respond in a timely manner to consumers as well as Australian consumer law regulators like Consumer Protection.

“These negotiations are slow but progressing.”

He said the safest way to buy tickets is from a venue’s authorised ticket seller.

by DAVID BELL

ONCE used as emergency accommodation for Perth’s homeless, Jewell House in the CBD is now derelict and riddled with squatters and graffiti.

With demand for short-term crisis accommodation becoming higher than ever, Terry Maller, a Perth council candidate and long-term advocate for the disadvantaged, says the state government should look at how much it would cost to reopen the former shelter on Goderich Street.

Mr Maller, who has managed various lodging houses for the needy and has lectured on affordable housing and homelessness, says he is “disturbed” to see so many homeless in the doorways in the central shopping precinct each morning.

He says local businesses are understandably fed up.

“Jewell House has 100 plus beds and there’s a crying need for them,” he says.

“Instead of finding only fault, perhaps Mr [John] Carey should look to solutions now that he is part of the state government.”

At the Perth City Summit last week, run by Perth Labor MP John Carey, homelessness was identified as the second most important issue for local residents and business owners.

Although raised as a major concern, Mr Carey said it was a complex issue that was difficult to address.

He says using vacant buildings for temporary shelters is a quick fix solution that may be too simplistic.

“The best way to go forward is to acknowledge the amount of work that’s already being done by the non-for-profits and collaborate with them to break the cycle,” Mr Carey says.

“A round table discussion is required to provide a rock foundation before we take any action.”

Jewell House was vacated three years ago after the health department terminated YMCA’s lease, with no plans to redevelop it.

A department spokeswoman says the lease was terminated because the building was more than 40 years old and had reached the end of its useful life.

The Australian Government’s White Paper on homelessness, The New Road, revealed that prevention and early intervention are the best solutions to reducing homelessness, suggesting crisis accommodation as a last resort.

They say that short term stays can be “disruptive” for tenants and “inefficient” for the government.

According to the WA Housing Hub 9600 people are homelessness in WA. On any given night 550 people doss down in crisis accommodation, with roughly 69 requests for assistance and shelter unmet.

by JAYDEN O’NEIL 

BAYSWATER Urban Tree Network founder Greg Smith wants all trees over five metres to be heritage listed so they can’t be cleared at will.

In July Bayswater council voted not to create a voluntary tree register “which I reckon is completely and utterly piss weak,” Mr Smith says.

The voluntary register would’ve meant that home owners could register trees on their land and they would be offered the same type of protection as heritage-registered buildings.

But with that idea voted down (only councillors Chris Cornish, Dan Bull and Catherine Ehrhardt were in favour), Mr Smith says he’s running for council and wants a far stricter tree-protection regime in place.

“I’d make it mandatory…every tree above five metres would be a ‘significant tree’, and should be considered when a development application is made,” he says.

“I want trees registered so that blocks aren’t clearfelled prior to development, so there’s a requirement to consider the tree.

“Otherwise what happens is you get blocks clearfelled and that contributes to the rising temperature of the suburb.”

At July’s council meeting there were worried that if a tree register applied to private land “it could affect property prices…and if a property was sold the next owner could be restricted in relation to further development of the property”.

Mr Smith, a town planner who’s running for west ward, says keeping trees around is more important and the policy would stop the thoughtless felling of trees that often precedes a block being developed.

Developers could also be given incentives, like letting them have a smaller setback, if they keep a tree and build around it.

“It’s not going to save every tree, which I would like, that’s nigh on impossible,” Mr Smith says. “But it will stop the willy nilly clearfelling.”

Bayswater resident Rachael Roberts would love to protect her flooded gum. Her back room was designed to fit in with the gum, so the chainsaws could stay safely sheathed in the shed. There’s no gutters and the room is on stumps so water can seep away into the area’s sandy soils.

by DAVID BELL

BAYSWATER councillor Brent Fleeton has been referred to the Local Government Standards Panel over a flyer he hand-delivered to 1000 houses in Noranda and Morley.

Cr Fleeton describes the flyer as a budget update which “included a double-sided letter signed by me on my letterhead, and three opinion pieces I had penned in the last few months relevant to what’s happening on Bayswater council and my issues with the state of our budget” (one piece, about the council moving investments from the coal sector, was published in the Voice on July 7).

Cr Fleeton’s flyers went out on August 20 and within days complaints had been made to Bayswater CEO Andrew Brien, who under state legislation was obliged to refer the matter to the LGSP.

The complaint alleges he had secured personal advantage or disadvantaged others by criticising a council decision, and “misuse of local government resources” for using the council logo on his letters.

In his assessment of the complaints, Mr Brien wrote; “it is clear from the letter that the councillor was acting in his capacity as an elected member of the City of Bayswater through the use of council letterhead and references to his position on council matters”.

Cr Fleeton is not up for election this year but the letter said: “I desperately want fresh faces on council who know how tough it is at the moment and vote accordingly”.

Mr Brien said this “could be detrimental to existing councillors”.

If the LGSP finds Cr Fleeton in breach, it could order him to make a public apology, or censure him.

Cr Fleeton said he “won’t be commenting on the specifics of the complaint” until it’s been before the panel but wanted to let ratepayers know about the complaint.

by DAVID BELL

WITH campaigners against marriage equality already rolling out anti-gay fliers, Vincent councillors have voted to publicly show support for their local LGBTI+ members ahead of the postal plebiscite.

On Tuesday night they voted unanimously in favour of mayor Emma Cole’s motion to kick off the “Vincent loves love” campaign and fly the rainbow flag at Vincent’s admin building for the duration of the survey.

It’ll replace the city’s own logo and fly alongside the Australian, WA and Aboriginal flags. They’ll also fly it at Axford Park and put up pro-love banners along Scarborough Beach Road (that currently still has Anzac day banners up).

Respect

“During the federal government’s non-binding Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, it is important to visually demonstrate council’s support for, and encourage respect and recognition of, the rights of the LGBTI members of the Vincent community,” Ms Cole’s motion read.

Asked if she’d copped any flak over the idea from ratepayers who reckon the council should stick to rates, roads n rubbish, Ms Cole said she’d only had messages of support so far.

“I think that taking a stance on issues like human rights and celebrating our diversity is a part of who we are as a Vincent community,” Ms Cole says. “It’s a characteristic to be welcoming and supportive of people.”

Ms Cole says it’s not like they’re dropping the ball on core business to focus on this: She says the “Vincent Loves Love” campaign is intended to be low cost, largely promoted through social media, and the banners along Scarborough Beach Road would have to be replaced about now anyway.

“Vincent’s supported marriage equality for a long time now, starting in 2012 when we started the relationship declaration register… and then in 2014 we put out a marriage equality declaration publicly. Now that we’re facing a non-binding postal survey, we think it’s really important to demonstrate support for our LGBTI+ community that they have their local council’s full support.”

There’s a flag-raising ceremony at the council building at the corner of Vincent and Loftus Street on Friday August 25 at 1pm.

On Monday night Hobart council also voted to fly the rainbow flag until same-sex marriage becomes legal.

by DAVID BELL

BASSENDEAN is eyeing off a chunk of Bayswater because of concerns it hasn’t enough ratepayers to stay viable.

Bassendean councillor Bob Brown put up a motion this week suggesting his council consider taking over the part of Bayswater bounded by the Swan River, Tonkin Highway and Guildford Road.

“Because of its small size and limited rate portfolio, the Town of Bassendean is barely viable, not having the capacity to undertake improvements many other metropolitan councils take for granted,” Cr Brown said.

“This town, its unique identity and potential employment and prosperity it creates must be protected therefore our viability needs to be improved.”

In a background statement that sounds like it’s straight out of pre-war Prussia, Cr Brown says “to do nothing exposes this council to future moves to amalgamate with adjoining councils”.

“His motion asked staff to look at the viability of the border adjustment and report back.