Tasmania’s greyhound industry is set to fall victim to the state’s political crisis, with the Liberal government's backing for the sport to be withdrawn by 2029.
Reports emerged from several sources on Saturday that Premier Jeremy Rockliff had agreed to cut funding for the sport at the end of the current funding deed in order to secure the crossbench support to effectively govern the state.
Rockliff’s Liberal Party only have 14 of the 35 lower house seats, leaving it well short of a majority and needs to enlist the ongoing support of crossbench members in order to continue in power.
Several crossbenchers, as well as The Greens, which hold five lower house seats, campaigned on ending greyhound racing in Tasmania ahead of last month’s state election.
The withdrawal of support from the government, which contributes around $7.5 million through the funding deed which emanated from the sale of the Tasmanian Tote in 2009, is a virtual death knell for the code.
There are around 150 greyhound meetings held in Tasmania every year across two tracks, Hobart and Launceston, with over 1500 races, which generate $270 million in turnover. That is around 37.5 per cent of the annual turnover across all three codes.
A loss of greyhound racing would have a significant impact on the $25 million in racing revenue Tasracing currently derives, primarily via wagering fees, as well as the $7.1 million it receives via the Point Of Consumption Tax agreement from the government.
Animal welfare advocacy groups, seeking a greyhound racing ban, commissioned studies which have attacked the funding of the sport and questioned the economic benefit of the industry. The code has also had a spate of integrity issues, as well as the recent death of champion greyhound Raider’s Guide.
Bren O’Brien
Tasracing has maintained that the code contributes $54 million to the state’s economy.
But its attempts to counter the political movement to ban greyhound racing appears to have run afoul of the fickle nature of state politics.
While it has not been confirmed that the sport will be banned, as it has been in the ACT and will be in New Zealand, the withdrawal of the proceeds of the funding deed will make it almost impossible to continue past 2029.
Neither Tasracing or the Tasmanian government has yet commented or made a formal announcement.
