Goulburn MP wants ‘all information on the table’ over racecourse future

Local MP Wendy Tuckerman says there are “transparency and due diligence” concerns over a potential transfer of Goulburn racecourse land to Racing NSW.

In urging the Goulburn District Racing Club (GDRC) to provide more details on the deal ahead of a members’ vote next week, Tuckerman said there had not been enough dialogue about what the controversial proposal means for racing in her electorate.

“I honestly think that (more) time is needed to ensure that all the information is laid on the table,” she told The Straight.

“I have been speaking to different trainers and (a lack of transparency) has been their concern.

“It’s about the future, too. OK, $9.5 million goes into putting new stables in but what does the future hold?

“What other elements will be looked at? Those sorts of discussions need to be had.

“I’d like to think they would need more time to do that due diligence.”

Following a unanimous board decision to accept a Racing NSW offer to hand over the keys to the racetrack to the regulatory body, Goulburn members will have the final say.

Racecourse sale key to Goulburn securing $9.5 million in Racing NSW handout

Goulburn Race Club will have to transfer the freehold of its racecourse land to Racing NSW if the country club wants to receive funding for new stables.

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They will vote on two resolutions during an extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday.

But the Goulburn MP warned there could be breaches of governance at play, given the restricted timeline between the funding announcement via the NSW government on February 29 and the members’ vote.

“That’s always a concern and that’s why you need to slow the process down to ensure due diligence in all those areas,” she said.

The Goulburn board is unanimous in wanting the club to enter into a funding agreement with Racing NSW that will pave the way for a $9.5 million allocation towards new stables and other training infrastructure in return for the freehold transfer of the racecourse.

The racecourse would then be leased back to the GDRC for what has been described as a “peppercorn rental”.

A second resolution would give club chief executive Robyn Fife and chairman Ken Ikin the right to negotiate and finalise the terms of the funding arrangement.

Frustrated by what they claim is a lack of detail in the fine print, members against the proposal have since lobbied NSW parliamentarians from all sides of the political spectrum to at least have the vote deferred.

As it stands, they have been given just eight working days since an information meeting on March 18 to consider their position on what is considered the most important decision in the club’s rich history.

‘Future-proofing’ of industry behind racecourse deals: V’landys

Ahead of a members’ vote on the future ownership of the Goulburn racecourse, Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys says he doesn’t want racetracks sold for the wrong reasons.

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Tuckerman said she was surprised to learn there were strings attached to the Racing NSW funding.

“When I was first advised that Goulburn had received $9.5 million I was quite overjoyed because I had been advocating to Racing NSW for some time for some funding to be able to increase the stable space as there was a lot of interest,” she said.

“So that was a piece of work I had done with the club. I was overjoyed until I found out that there was a caveat to that in signing over the land which concerned me from the get-go.

“I want the best outcome for Goulburn and I think we are extremely well placed strategically.

“I think it is an asset Racing NSW should be investing in any way. I certainly made a few phone calls based on that information to the CEO and to members of the board in regards to ‘what’s happening’ basically to try to get a bit of a clearer picture.

Tuckerman said she had expressed her concern and advised the Club to make sure they had done their due diligence around that whole deal.

“One of my concerns of course is the valuation of it. The land would be worth considerably more (than $9.5 million) and the asset that is on top of it would be considerably more,” she said.

“And it is important that if any decision is made, due diligence around it was used.

“I understand that the problem with the club is that they haven’t been able to secure infrastructure funding from Racing NSW to expand.

“I guess that my concern is that Racing NSW gets a fair bit of money from (race fields legislation and point of consumption tax) and the purpose of that is to actually put it into infrastructure.

“And there has been money allocated to different racing tracks without any caveats on it so I think there needs to be a pretty comprehensive, fair and transparent process (around Goulburn).”