The troubled Queensland Racing Integrity Commission’s finances have been put under scrutiny at a Queensland parliamentary hearing, with suggestions from shadow Racing Minister Tim Mander that QRIC’s budget had blown out by up to $7 million and was a $40 million year basket case.
The interim QRIC commissioner Malcolm Letts appeared before a Queensland Parliament Estimates Hearing this week, where he was asked to provide the integrity body’s current budgetary position.
Letts, who assumed the role on an interim basis in June, could not provide information on the just completed financial year, nor could he provide an update of the last available financial position.
The awkward exchange ended with Racing Minister Grace Grace committing to provide full details to the parliament in the future.
Mander then said he was led to believe that QRIC is probably around $6 million to $7 million over budget.
“Is that consistent with your knowledge with regard to how they have been tracking this last financial year?” he asked Letts.
Letts repeated that he did not have an absolutely clear position in relation to the end of the financial year.
“The position I have been advised on to this point in time is that the way the expenditure has been tracking it is a little over budget,” he said.
QRIC has been under significant scrutiny over a series of matters and Grace put the body under a KPMG review.
Grace confirmed that review had been received and that both the commissioner, Shane Gillard, and the deputy commissioner had resigned, but said she did not want to elaborate on the reasons.
“I do not really want to comment on that. Mr Gillard decided that he would resign. He has resigned,” she said.
“There have been some issues that were raised in the report. We will make it public and we do want to work through those.”
Bren O’Brien
She said she hoped to make the KPMG review public "very soon".
“There is confidentiality in there and I will not breach that confidentiality. A lot of stakeholders and the implementation committee are working on this. I intend to make it public. We are working through those issues,” she said.
Later in the hearing, Mander asked Minister Grace about the industry dissatisfaction with QRIC.
“I have to say that QRIC is the issue that is raised the most in my engagement with stakeholders. It seems to be in a state of upheaval at the moment,” he said.
“They do not have a leader. Last year there was a huge turnover of staff. This year further senior staff have resigned: general counsel, manager of finance futures, the lead vet of equine and the principal adviser of HR. There are other senior staff on stress leave. Is this a $40 million a year basket case?”
Mander, who is likely to be the state’s next racing minister with the opposition highly favoured to take over, was warned by Estimates Committee chair Chris Whiting over his use of inferences in his question. Nevertheless, Grace replied.
“There have been concerns. When it comes to their stewarding and their administration of races, the report has found that that was all run well; they have been doing very well et cetera,” she said.
“There were issues around culture, staff and whatever else. They were the issues that were of concern to me when they were highlighted to me.
“As I said, I believe that the current acting commissioner and the current deputy commissioner are out in the marketplace at the moment to bring that about. The two who were there have resigned and those resignations have been accepted.”
Later, Minister Grace said she had already addressed concerns raised in the KPMG review.
“If you are asking me whether I had concerns, absolutely—and that is why I acted the way that I did. When it comes to stewardship and all of that, QRIC has been doing a very good job and the industry has grown,” she said.
“I have to say that QRIC is the issue that is raised the most in my engagement with stakeholders. It seems to be in a state of upheaval at the moment”- Queensland shadow Racing Minister Tim Mander
Grace was also asked how much the KPMG review cost. She initially replied it was $110,000, but then later corrected the record to say it was $510,000.
Racing Queensland CEO Jason Scott also appeared before the Estimates Committee, where he was asked about the recent issues with Eagle Farm, funding and infrastructure at country tracks and RQ’s funding models.
Read the full Transcript of the Estimates Committee hearing.
