Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table the explanatory memorandum relating to the bill, and I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS (INDICIA AND IMAGES) PROTECTION AMENDMENT BILL 2018

The purpose of the Bill is to protect sponsorship and licensing revenue from the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup 2020 (T20 World Cup) from being undermined by ambush marketing, which is the unauthorised commercial use of event indicia (or expressions) and images. This will be achieved by including the T20 World Cup as a recognised major sporting event under the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 2014 (the Act).

The Bill also takes the opportunity to remove schedules relating to two historical sporting events that are no longer provided protections under the Act, being the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2015 and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

The Bill is consistent with the approach the Australian Government took when it legislated to protect the indicia and images for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, AFC Asian Cup 2015, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. It also meets a commitment by the Australian Government to provide such intellectual property rights protection for the T20 World Cup.

The hosting of the T20 World Cup in Australia provides a unique opportunity to showcase our country to the world from a tourism, trade and event delivery perspective. It will further strengthen Australia's reputation as a world-class host of major international sporting events, with the Australian Government playing a critical role in facilitating the appropriate environment that makes such success possible.

The T20 World Cup will see the world's 10 best women's teams and 16 best men's teams coming to Australia to play Twenty20 cricket, with potential broadcast and digital audiences reaching in excess of 1.5 billion people from more than 200 countries worldwide. These T20 World Cup teams will represent the pinnacle of international sporting competition and include some of the world's most talented male and female cricketers. The women's T20 World Cup tournament will take place in February-March 2020, with the men's T20 World Cup tournament scheduled for October-November that same year.

For the owners and organisers of the T20 World Cup, this international profile provides the opportunity to showcase the sport of cricket, build a legacy and attract commercial partners that will invest in the event and cricket into the future. Event owners and organisers rely heavily on revenue generated by television rights, ticket sales, sponsorship and licensing to ensure their event can be delivered and continues to be an attractive and viable financial proposition to future host countries. It is this profile and these commercial realities that necessitate the sorts of protections that are proposed for the T20 World Cup in this Bill.

Major events have long been targets of those that would seek to create an impression of association with the event in order to achieve commercial gain without having purchased the rights and therefore invested in the sport, to claim that association. This act, known as 'ambush marketing by association', has the capacity to diminish the value of sponsorship, reduce the incentive for organisations to enter into commercial arrangements with events, and reduce the overall event revenue. In turn, this has the ability to increase the financial impact on government to support such events.

The Bill will protect the use of a range of expressions associated with the T20 World Cup from ambush marketing and unlicensed commercial use in the lead up to, during and in the immediate aftermath of the T20 World Cup.

In addition to protecting specific event-related terminology, the Bill also provides protection to certain images that in the circumstances of their presentation suggest, or are likely to suggest, a connection with the T20 World Cup. These images may be either visual or aural representations.

While it is important to protect T20 World Cup sponsors from ambush marketing, the rights of the community to freedom of expression must also be respected, particularly in relation to words that have passed into common usage. A pragmatic approach has been taken with generic words and references excluded from the list of protected expressions. It must also be emphasised that restrictions on the usage of T20 World Cup indicia and images will apply only to their unlicensed commercial use.

A number of exceptions will exist in relation to the T20 World Cup allowing for:

Trade Marks Act 1995Design Act 2003Copyright Act 1968

In line with the Australian Government's deregulation agenda, the Bill is not intended to increase the burden on business or affect their everyday operations. The Bill fully protects the rights of the existing holders to use T20 World Cup indicia and images to carry out their business functions.

The T20 World Cup schedule proposed in the Bill will cease to have effect after 30 November 2021, approximately one year after the completion of the T20 World Cup. This is consistent with other major sporting events protected by the Act.

Debate adjourned.