🔒 🔒 NSW racing reform locked in cabinet as industry awaits Hazzard review

A long-awaited review of the NSW Thoroughbred Racing Act remains locked in a cabinet process, with Racing Minister David Harris unable to give a date for when the industry will finally be allowed to see its findings.

Harris told budget estimates the review by former Liberal minister Brad Hazzard had been completed but was now subject to cabinet consideration, despite the report having been submitted in late July.

Asked directly when the review would be released, Harris gave no timeframe, saying its publication would depend on the cabinet process being completed.

“I will, once it’s been through the processes, it’ll be released,” Harris said when asked whether the government would make the report public.

The timing of the review’s release has become a growing issue for the NSW racing industry, with Harris acknowledging that he had received a letter earlier in the week from a group of prominent racing identities calling on the government to publish the document.

“They asked the government to consider releasing the report,” Harris said, adding that the review remained “subject to cabinet in confidence”.

The government’s position means the report, commissioned as a statutory review of the Thoroughbred Racing Act, has moved past the work of Hazzard but has yet to reach the stage where its recommendations can be publicly considered.

Hazzard was appointed to conduct the review in 2025, with the legislation, initially formulated in the mid-1990s, having not undergone a proper statutory examination since 2014.

“I think it’s appropriate that we are looking now at the appropriateness of the Act,” Harris said.

The minister said the government was taking advice across a range of issues before deciding whether the legislation required change. 

“There’s some really complex legal and commercial interests which we have to look very carefully at, take very close advice under in terms of a cabinet before making public pronouncements,” Harris said.

That process is being conducted against growing pressure for changes to the way Racing NSW operates, with several MPs using budget estimates to question the minister about the organisation’s dual role as regulator and commercial operator.

Harris declined to say whether issues surrounding that structure had been addressed in the Hazzard review, once again citing cabinet confidentiality.

He did, however, acknowledge that the question of whether the current legislative framework remains suitable was broader than any single issue about the workings of Racing NSW.

“It has been raised separately with me,” Harris said, referring to concerns about the organisation’s roles.

Harris also rejected the suggestion that the government could simply direct Racing NSW to change its operations, claiming he was hamstrung by the regulator’s statutory independence and the limits of his own ministerial powers.

In what is the most important analysis of the Thoroughbred Racing Act since it was legislated in 1996, Hazzard handed his report to Harris for consideration in July.

With Harris revealing the review is now parked at cabinet level, the minister acknowledged he had received a letter from high-profile and influential industry stalwarts, demanding the report be released.

Hall of Fame trainer Gai Waterhouse, businessman Ron Finemore and Arrowfield chairman John Messara were among the co-signatories to the letter that said there was no justification for withholding Hazzard’s findings.

Industry speculation points to a potential move to divide the functions of Racing NSW.

Splitting Racing NSW’s regulatory and commercial powers would go some way towards addressing governance concerns raised by a growing number of prominent industry figures such as those who belong to the Racing Reform Group.