PARK LIFE'S BACK! (Oz biggies)

Shitballs! Sydneys earlybirds were $99 - all gone already, now $115!

Considering it was only $65 for Early Birds last year and arguably the line up was BETTER! Hmmmmmmmmm

Oh, and you might be back by then?!?!

Derrick Carter

"power to the people, fuck corporate greed.



24 September 2007



Attention: Mr. Mark James
Director
Future Entertainment Pty Ltd
ACN 085 550 054


Dear Mr. James,


Re: a series of unfortunate events.


I refer to my recent attendance at the Parklife outdoor music festival held at Birrabung Marr in Melbourne on Saturday 22 September 2007 (from herein known as "Melbourne Parklife 2007). As I understand, Melbourne Parklife 2007 was conducted in conjunction with another company Fuzzy Entertainment Pty Ltd (from herein known as "Fuzzy". Nevertheless, I address my letter to you as the Director of Future Entertainment Pty. Ltd. (from herein known as "Future", because I am assuming that whilst Fuzzy may have exerted some influence over which specific local and international artists would be performing at Melbourne Parklife 2007, they had little or no direct involvement with the logistical aspects of the aforementioned event. I believe that Melbourne Parklife 2007 was promoted as a joint venture between the two companies primarily due business issues pertaining to intellectual property considerations, the specifics of which are not important for the purposes of this letter (except insofar as to say that the terminology "Parklife" was the brainchild of Fuzzy). I am sure you would be the first to admit that Fuzzy have been running music festivals under the name Parklife across several Australian cities since at least 2002.

Therefore I suggest that Future was primarily responsible for the planning and logistics of Parklife Melbourne 2007, including but not limited to venue choice, marketing & promotions, ticket sales & other associated revenue, local government regulation compliance, liquor licensing, occupational health & safety, security & crowd control. Please feel free to correct me if my assumptions are inaccurate.

I have now been to several outdoor music festivals in Melbourne which are promoted and run by Future. I have also had the benefit of attending outdoor music festivals in other states not at all affiliated with Future. It saddens me to say but the level of overcrowding that I have experienced at the following Future events including Summerdayze 2007, Future Music Festival 2007 and Parklife Melbourne 2007 was a serious cause for concern. If these matters are not addressed it will eventually result in the death or serious injury to members of the public.

Whether you are aware or not, your corporation has adopted a two tier approach to the sale of tickets for the above-mentioned events;

1- Patrons purchase advertised tickets through Ticketmaster and other associated outlets such as Central Station etc. I am assuming that this makes up a vast majority of the tickets sold for these events. For the sake of clarity let’s call these typical transactions "Official Ticketmaster Sales";

2- Patrons can also purchase tickets through people who purport to be Future promoters. Let’s call these transactions "Promoter Sales".

In or around early September 2007 (as I have done so on previous occasions) I made a payment of $190.00 to a person who purports to be a promoter/agent of Future. This payment was made for the purposes of purchasing two tickets to Melbourne Parklife 2007. (Specific details regarding the full name of the promoter, method of payment and deliveries of the tickets can be provided). I purchase my tickets through a promoter because I don’t pay a booking fee. Sometimes I am able to score VIP passes along with those tickets. The money is paid directly to the promoter and a few days later I receive prompt delivery.

I have never had any reason to suspect that tickets would have been stolen, the monies have on occasion been paid directly into the bank account of the promoter, and the promoter makes no secret of the fact that they are an agent of Future. The Promoter Sale tickets appear identical to the Official Ticketmaster tickets and they have always scanned correctly at the front entrances. Any VIP passes I have received have always allowed me access to the exclusively cordoned off areas.

Could you please provide answers to the following questions?

1. Why does the promoter never provide me with a receipt either in their own capacity as agent or directly from Future for the tickets I have purchased?

2. Was there any record retained for of the tickets I have purchased in respect of the aforementioned events? Were the monies raised declared to the Australian Taxation Office in respective tax returns for your corporation? Will my latest purchase of two tickets to Melbourne Parklife 2007 through a promoter be declared at the end of this financial year? Does Future fully intend to comply with its reporting obligations under the Income Taxation Assessment Act and other associated legislation?


3. How many such promoters did Future have employed as agent for the aforementioned events? Although I have had discussions with the promoter, I am interested to know your position regarding specific details about how promoters compensated for their service and the recording procedures you have in place in relation to Promoter sales tickets;

4. Hypothetically, assuming you had 100 promoters who each sold 100 tickets without providing receipts, this would equal an extra 10,000 patrons above and beyond official Ticketmaster sales, an extra $1,000,000.00 in raised ticket revenue (not to mention associated revenue through food and beverage sales). Would you agree that this is a lot of money and people not being accounted for Mr. James?


5. Is there any relationship between the number of promoter sale tickets and the ever increasing frustration amongst my friends and the greater Melbourne’s music loving community about the sheer overcrowding of patrons that attended the aforementioned events?

Also, in relation to other aspects of Melbourne Parklife 2007, I would be pleased if you provided answers to the following questions:

6. After waiting in line some time to refill my water at the designated water refilling stations, it took me close to a minute to fill the bottle because the water pressure was extremely deficient. Once filled I could not put a lid on because it was confiscated by the bar staff who sold me the water. Why was I sold bottles of water without the lids? Were the low pressure water dispensers an attempt to minimize water wastage or merely an attempt to sell more bottled water?

7. Who was responsible for the sewerage facilities at Melbourne Parklife 2007? In particular, which idiot decided it was a good idea to have more bars at Melbourne Parklife than designated toilet areas?

8. Why was the waiting lines for toilet use bordering at some stages 30 minutes for my female patron friends? Do you think it is acceptable that a woman should wait the time it takes for an entire quarter of Australian Rules football to be played in order to get access to a toilet at your events?

9. Was the water leaking out of the portable toilets at several of the toilet station areas near the Earth Stage waste sewerage? It sure looked it.

10. Who was contracted to undertake the waste management aspects of Parklife Melbourne 2007? Why was almost every bin I saw filled to the brim and its base surrounded by littered waste? Why did I not see a single bin being emptied the entire time I was at the event and why was it impossible to differentiate between whether the bins provided were for recycling or waste?

11. I saw several physical altercations between patrons which eventually fizzled out without the intervention of any security personnel. I also witnessed many patrons who were clearly intoxicated engaging in unruly and dangerous behavior such as dancing on overfilled rubbish bins, climbing railings and stages, placing their own personal safety at risk as well as the members of the public. Which security firms were contracted to engage in crowd control services at Melbourne Parklife 2007? How many Security/Crowd Control officers signed the Crowd Control Registrar and apart from security staff at the front entrance, why did I not see one single security guard wearing a security number identification badge?

12. Much to my surprise and disappointment, I witnessed countless children as young as 13 at Melbourne Parklife 2007, many of which seemed to be under the influence of alcohol. What steps were taken to ensure that the minimization of underage attendees at this event? Was security staff checking identification of patrons on entry and how many people were refused entry due to being underage?

13. What steps were taken to advertise to responsible drinking of alcohol and anti drug campaigns at Melbourne Parklife 2007? Whilst I saw countless people being escorted out by friends clearly suffering from drug overdoses, I did not see a single sign warning people about the dangers of consuming illegal drugs.

I eagerly look forward to your response to the questions raised.

Yours sincerely,

Name Withheld
(Name and Address provided to the authorities below who received a CC copy of this correspondence)

CC: Attention: Chief Investigating Officer
Australian Taxation Office
Compliance Section
Locked Bag 6050
Dandenong Vic 3175

Attention: Chief Executive Officer
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
PO Box 9149
Traralgon Vic 3844

Attention: Australian Federal Police
300 Latrobe Street
Melbourne Vic 3000

Attention: Commonwealth Director of Public
Prosecutions
460 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne Vic 3000

Attention: Licensing Services Division
Victoria Police
PO Box 2807
Melbourne Vic 3001

Attention: Chief Executive Officer
Compliance
Melbourne City Council
GPO Box 1603
Melbourne Vic 3001 "