The students who bought tickets to Wellington's Homegrown
music festival from Labour MP Trevor Mallard for an inflated
price have turned down his offer to buy them back.
Mr Mallard came under fire today after he made a profit by
on-selling tickets to the sold-out event in a Trade Me
auction at the weekend.
Tickets for Saturday's festival had a face value of $95 each
but Mr Mallard sold his four tickets for $656 - a $276
profit.
The buyer, 19-year-old Laura Signal, picked up the tickets at
Mr Mallard's Naenae office, where he handed them over
personally.
As minister for sport and recreation, Mr Mallard initiated
the Major Events Management Act 2007 which tightened the
rules around on-selling tickets to major events and allowed
scalpers to be fined up to $5000.
Following today's controversy, Mr Mallard contacted Ms Signal
and offered to buy back the tickets.
She declined the offer, and said she would prefer the profit
from the sale went to charity.
The issue came before Parliament this afternoon, and Mr
Mallard found himself the subject of fun when National MP Tau
Henare asked a patsy question of Minister for Economic
Development Steven Joyce about Major Events Management Act
protections.
"What reports has the minister received that suggest ongoing
behaviour contrary to the intent of that legislation?'' Mr
Henare asked.
Mr Joyce said he had received reports of such incidents as
late as this morning highlighting the problem of scalping.
"Taking place in this case, apparently, from a red-painted
ticket sales office in Naenae, which is possibly part of a
chain of such offices all across Lower Hutt,'' Mr Joyce said.
"Notwithstanding that the alleged perpetrator has been quoted
in the paper as saying ... what it looks like is a clear case
of 'do as I say, but not as I do'.''
Prime Minister John Key laughed today when asked about the
controversy.
"I don't know the ins and outs of it, but it sounds untidy,''
Mr Key said during a visit to Christchurch.
Asked if Mr Mallard should face disciplinary action for the
Trade Me sale, Mr Key said: "I don't know legally, but it's
probably a bit embarrassing.
"This is the guy who passed legislation in 2007 to try and
outlaw this very stuff.''
Speaking on Campbell Live this evening, Mr Mallard said he
would find a "worthy home'' for the profit he made.
"I've cocked up, I've been subjected to a fair amount of
ridicule, and I think I'm just about big enough to wear it.''
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