Page 137 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 December 2016
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am committed to working positively with the industry in a way which delivers the best possible outcomes for those currently involved. I look forward to the opportunity to work together on what I hope will be an appropriate and sensitive transition package.
I know that the industry would prefer to continue to operate in the ACT and has put forward a proposal to expand the ACT greyhound racing industry. I expect that the industry will also see the reduction of greyhound racing in New South Wales as an opportunity for the growth of the industry in the ACT. The government does not agree. The New South Wales inquiry conducted by Michael McHugh QC not only disclosed widespread animal cruelty but made the assessment that the industry has not demonstrated that it is capable of reform. The inquiry found:
… such is the culture of the industry and some of its leaders that it is no longer, if it ever was, entitled to the trust of the community.
The terms of reference for the inquiry included evaluating whether the governance, integrity and animal welfare standards of the greyhound racing industry could be appropriately addressed to permit the industry to continue to provide an ongoing economic and social contribution to the community. The commission noted:
In the last 40 years, many countries in the Western world have increasingly recognised that social institutions—whether industries, corporations, businesses or organised sports—must answer to the wider community for their behaviour and that they have a “social licence” to operate only so long as they perform in accordance with public expectations.
The New South Wales government response to the commission’s findings was that the industry had lost its social licence to operate. It had failed to demonstrate that it could address the issues confronting the industry, and the New South Wales government’s decision was to end the industry in New South Wales. That was a decision which resonated with very many in the Australian community, including here in the ACT.
The ACT government does not consider that following the New South Wales government’s backdown on its decision would, on the basis of the evidence of the report, be prudent, ethical or in line with the expectations of the broader ACT community.
The case made in the McHugh report that the industry has lost its social licence to operate remains as compelling as it was when New South Wales took its initial decision to end the industry. The findings that justified that decision have not changed. For example, there is evidence of the extent of live baiting, acceptance within sectors of the industry of this practice and a failure of the industry to address this practice, which was known to senior officials to be occurring. There is evidence about the rates of injuries and deaths in racing greyhounds, and the sanitisation of information about this by stewards in order to reduce the scrutiny of the industry. There is evidence before the commission that between 50 and 70 per cent of greyhounds whelped were deliberately killed because they never were, or no longer were, capable of being competitive racing greyhounds. They are simply classed as “industry wastage”.
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