ATC starts again with a new Rosehill vote set for May 27

The future of Rosehill racecourse will remain in limbo for at least an extra fortnight after a vote that would determine the track’s future and paint a path forward for a divided industry was delayed.

In the latest development in an ongoing saga, which has privately split the Australian Turf Club board and the broader NSW racing industry, Sydney’s metropolitan racing club informed members via email late on Tuesday that May 27 would be the new date for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) 

It’s the second time that the EGM to vote on whether to sell Rosehill in a proposed $5 billion deal to the state government for housing has been delayed.

The EGM was first planned for April 3, then it was pushed back until May 12 under orders from Racing NSW, with the ATC board’s latest move delaying a decision by a further 15 days. 

Confusion has also surrounded whether voting ahead of the subsequently abandoned April 3 EGM would stand.

The ATC confirmed that those votes would be void and that its membership of more than 11,000 would be required to vote again if they wished to have their say on the future of Rosehill. That would also include the nomination of proxies. 

“The 27th of May is a new meeting, and because members are voting on new resolutions, constitutionally that means the voting process must start afresh and Members are required to vote again,” the ATC email read. 

“This vote is one of the most significant in the Club’s history. All Members are urged to review the material and make their voices heard in this critically important decision on the future of Sydney racing.”

When the April 3 EGM was postponed at the intervention of Racing NSW, using its powers under the Thoroughbred Racing Act and the Totalizator Act, the regulator said it did so over concerns raised about a lack of information given to members regarding the proposal.

The ATC says in its latest email to members that it is addressing the concerns raised and as a result had elected to push back the EGM again due to the impacts of the Easter and ANZAC Day public holidays on both its members and administrators working on the proposal.

“In a further commitment to fairness and transparency, the ATC Board extended the timeline to allow further information to be developed, including a full Explanatory Memorandum and perspectives from both sides of the debate,” the email said.

The ATC has guaranteed that the updated information will be distributed to members by May 6 and that the documents will also provide further detail on “broader plans for the future of Sydney racing”.

Racing NSW orders ATC to delay Rosehill vote

Racing NSW has made an extraordinary intervention in the Australian Turf Club’s plans to vote on the future of Rosehill, using its powers to compel the ATC to push its extraordinary general meeting back until May 12.

The StraightWarwick Barr

When the Rosehill proposal was first announced in December 2023 by Premier Chris Minns and ATC chairman Peter McGauran, it was intended that the vote would take place at the 2024 ATC AGM in December last year.

But after the prolonged political fallout of the debate around Rosehill’s future, which included an upper house parliamentary inquiry, it was then decided that the vote would be held via an EGM this year.