Page 2313 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 August 2022
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Ten years ago the commission said that if the industry collapsed, there would not be any noticeable drop in wagering in the ACT and revenue. The industry is in a worse position now than when that report was released.
I do not know whether this industry is viable without being half-funded by the ACT government, but the collapse of any industry is a serious and significant thing. I am really sorry for the people and the animals that this affects. That is why the ACT Greens did not call, and are not calling, for a sudden end to funding, but for a transition plan that looks after the workers and the animals while we phase out public funds. I think this is a more responsible plan. We are hearing how much distress there is from this industry. It is a good idea to have a chat with them about transitioning.
Do Canberrans support ACT horseracing? This is interesting. A recent RiotACT poll on whether the ACT taxpayer should support the horseracing industry found 74 per cent said, “No, the social licence has run out for racing.” That is not a Greens poll; that was a RiotACT poll. I was surprised to read how high that figure was. When should a government bail out an industry? When it is in the public interest for that industry to continue.
The ACT Greens oppose public funding to the horseracing industry. We are clear, measured and predictable on this. I have been consistently speaking against this public funding arrangement since my first sitting in December 2020, when I tabled a petition calling on the ACT government to withdraw public funding.
Last night our leader, Shane Rattenbury, issued a media release urging a more progressive budgeting decision that will create budgets that reflect what we value as a community and the future that we want to build together. He noted that, of course, we support the budget, and of course we support the government, but we object to this one line item, and we will continue to object to it.
It is the sign of any mature relationship to be able to disagree. Our government partnership is mature, and we sometimes disagree. We have been working with our colleagues on this new MOU, and it has been a really good example of that. We were opposed from the outset, and we made that clear. We dealt with our Labor counterparts, and they dealt with us, with honesty and good faith throughout.
The MOU is undoubtedly better than it would have been, and I am certain that it is much better than previous MOUs. Often—almost always—we Greens reach a compromise position where we do not speak out publicly against something that is not done in the way that we would like because both parties have made compromises and it is clearly in the public interest to back the end result. But in this one case, we just have not quite got to that point.
We fundamentally object to providing ongoing public funding to the horseracing industry, so it is not remarkable that we have spoken out. It is just remarkable that we do this so rarely. It is because our parties deal well with one another, and it is because we deal honestly and in a straightforward manner.
We will continue to work on all of the issues that are important to Canberrans. We will continue to deliver services to Canberrans. We have every intention of following
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