Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) chief executive officer Steve Griffin has voiced his disgust at the industry being used as a “political football” with the weekend’s announcement that the Tasmania Government will cease funding their local industry in 2029.
Newly re-elected Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff announced it was: “time to draw a line in the sand and ensure an orderly exit from greyhound racing in Tasmania," and that the Tasmanian Government would cut public funding by June 30, 2029.
His announcement comes just three weeks after publicly stating his Government was “committed to supporting the longevity and sustainability “of the racing industry.
Media reports have suggested Mr Rockliff is trying to secure the support of crossbenchers after failing to win a majority at last month’s election, with the Greens - which hold five seats - and an independent having advocated for the banning of greyhound racing.
“We are pretty disgusted and quite sick of politicians treating our sport as a political football,” Mr Griffin said.
“Here's just another example of politicians playing around with our sport. The lesson from the past is if you kick a sport like ours, you'll get something back, and we'll stand very firmly alongside Greyhound Racing Tasmania to make sure we can get this decision overturned.
“This is just political expediency and politicians looking after themselves and we're just sick of it.
“As a sport, why do we have to get dragged into these things and get treated like second class citizens? It's just a joke. I'm not sure when politicians are going to learn that we are just not going to put up with this stuff.
“The majority of Australians believe in a fair go. Sports like ours have been working hard and doing really well over the last ten years to improve welfare and improve the sport, and time and time again we get kicked by these politicians who want to treat us like a political football, and we're just over it.
“You talk to anyone any participant throughout Australia and they're all upset today. “Here we go again. Another politician using us as a political football,” they are all saying.
“This has just got to stop and we are sick of it.”
Tasmania, like all States over the past decade, has worked extensively on welfare and safety and their figures in the arena vindicate that work. In 2016-17, 15 greyhounds died from 12,724 starters, representing 1.18 greyhounds per 1,000 starters - the standard industry metric.
The number peaked in 2018-19 when there were 18 deaths from 12,642 starters, but since then it has reduced dramatically to just two deaths from 11,927 starters or 0.17 per 1,000 so far this year.
A recent report into the industry also showed that the economic impact of greyhound racing in Tasmania is around $61 million and that the industry supports 460 full time jobs in Tasmania.
“Like all in this industry we know the importance of welfare, it is paramount, and the figures clearly show that Tasmania has worked very hard on the issue,” Mr Griffin said.
“But again, this is about politics not welfare reforms and the significant changes to the industry, and we again all suffer.
“I have reached out to our counterparts in Tasmania and offered our full support and reaffirmed that Greyhound Racing NSW will stand beside them and work closely with them to have this abhorrent decision reversed.”
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