Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Statement on behalf of the steering committee of the Racing Reform Group NSW.
Just before lunch last Wednesday, Dr Saranne Cooke, the chairman of Racing NSW, landed in your inboxes once again, releasing a ‘Chairman’s Update’ that trumpeted record prizemoney distributions to participants.
The RRG, along with every reader, has seen prizemoney returns in NSW grow strongly over the past decade and that success should be commended.
Many people have, however, suggested this update was issued in response to an opinion piece by Arthur Mitchell, a member of the Racing Reform Group’s (RRG) steering committee, that was published by The Thoroughbred Report and The Straight.
The suggestions of the link were made because Dr Cooke’s update included a curious paragraph:
“It is therefore disappointing that a small minority of agitators have chosen to engage in divisive and personality-driven politics at a time when industry unity and stability are critical. Actions that undermine confidence in the industry risk harming revenue growth and, ultimately, participant returns. Constructive engagement and collective effort will always deliver better outcomes than internal disruption for self-interest.”
Arthur Mitchell | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Strong returns to shareholders alone cannot be the sole KPI for a modern sporting industry, nor any public company for that matter.
Governance, transparency in decision-making, appropriate use of funds, the health of race clubs, infrastructure investment and long-term strategy are equally important to the health and future of our sport.
As well as talking about prizemoney, we would like Dr Cooke to provide us with an update on a number of governance concerns she has yet to address.
Important questions that need to be responded to include, can the Chair clarify:
1. Whether the industry’s money is being used to fund Peter V’Landys defamation case against The Thoroughbred Report and, if so, on what basis?
2. Why has Racing NSW failed to meet its statutory obligations under the Thoroughbred Racing Act to develop a strategic plan every three years? If the regulator seeks constructive engagement with the industry, as Dr Cooke claimed, surely developing a plan in consultation with owners, trainers, punters, breeders, race clubs and staff would be the way to achieve this?
3. What action has the board of Racing NSW taken following the findings of the NSW Parliament’s Privileges Committee which stated: “This committee has serious concerns that Racing NSW has engaged in conduct that may have had the effect of deterring potential inquiry witnesses from coming forward to give evidence for fear of reprisals – the so called ‘chilling effect’.” The Committee also called the regulator’s actions “deeply inappropriate” and said they “reflected poorly on Racing NSW as an organisation”.
These are serious questions of governance that go to the performance of the board and its chair, as well as the fitness for purpose of the current regulatory structure.
Calling critics of Racing NSW “agitators”, motivated by “self-interest” appears to be a tactic to deflect from legitimate concerns that are held widely across the industry on many issues such as governance, welfare, infrastructure and education and training.
The RRG steering committee looks forward to a Chairman’s Update which deals with the issues outlined above.
Regards,
RRG Steering Committee – Brian Nutt (Secretary), Arthur Mitchell, Helen Sinclair, Julia Ritchie, David Walter, Jason Abrahams and Will Johnson.
