On Monteith Review and Tasracing …

Media release – Madeleine Ogilvie, Minister for Racing, 30 November 2022

Response to the Monteith Review

The Tasmanian Government has today released its detailed response to the Monteith Review, which recommended changes to the Racing Regulation Act 2004.

The response confirms the Government’s intention to introduce the most significant reforms to integrity in racing in decades.

These changes will support an industry that generates more than $185 million in economic activity for Tasmania, with more than 5,800 people across the state involved.

As a result, a new model will include:

• Creating a Tasmanian Racing Integrity Commissioner with powers to set integrity and animal welfare standards;
• Enhancing integrity governance within Tasracing, with the racing body to become operationally responsible for all three codes of racing. This includes pre-race day and race day management, including stewards and daily animal welfare; and
• Providing a role for the RSPCA in animal welfare and retaining the power for independent investigation of animal welfare matters.

In addition, the Government will further strengthen the integrity model proposed by Mr Monteith through the following:

• The Tasmanian Racing Integrity Commission (TasRIC) office must include staff with experience in animal welfare policy and regulation; and
• The TasRIC will provide an annual report to the Minister for Racing on the performance of their functions and the exercise of their powers.

Implementation of these important reforms will require new legislation.

Industry and community members will have an opportunity to provide comments on a draft Bill in the new year.

The full response to the Review can be viewed at https://nre.tas.gov.au/racing-response

Media release – Cassy O’Connor MP, Greens Leader and Animal Welfare spokesperson, 30 November 2022

Racing Reforms a Mixed Bag for Animal Welfare

That the Rockliff Government chose to release their response to the Monteith Review – which deals in part with matters of poor transparency of racing industry bodies – during the Government Business Scrutiny Committee, without allowing Members to read the report before attending, says it all when it comes to this Government’s position on transparency and scrutiny.

If Minister Ogilvie was serious about addressing the very serious image problems TasRacing and the industry more broadly have, she’d have given Committee members more than a few minutes to read the Government’s response to the Monteith Review to inform their questions.

No. Instead, we get a typical Liberal GBE PR stunt.

We welcome increased involvement from the RSPCA, the increased emphasis on animal welfare, and the establishment of additional standards.

While there are positive aspects of the Monteith Review – and the Government’s response to the review – the devil will be in the detail of the draft legislation they bring forward.

The Greens remain concerned that some regulatory functions are being removed from the Integrity Body and vested in TasRacing. The industry will, again, be largely overseeing itself.

The issues that catalysed this review largely came about because the regulatory arm of the racing industry was too interested in the commercial performance of the industry, at the expense of animal welfare and upholding what integrity the industry has.

Moving regulatory functions in to a GBE is not going to improve these outcomes for the animals who make the profits for this mendicant industry.

Media release – Dean Winter MP, Shadow Minister for Racing, 1 December 2022

Ogilvie must resign

Minister Madeline Ogilvie misled Parliament yesterday. Today, she should resign from Cabinet.

Despite the Chair of TasRacing sitting next to the Minister and admitting that former TasRacing CEO, Paul Eriksson, had his employment terminated, Minister Ogilvie stood by her statement from 6 July claiming he had left to spend more time with his family.

He had not and Ms Ogilvie knew it.

In fact, Ms Ogilvie doubled down in the Hearing, misleading it by saying: “Mr Eriksson, it is my understanding, did want to return for family reasons.”

Mr Eriksson had left because his employment was terminated. He had been reappointed less than four months earlier for three years, but had his employment terminated following the results of staff culture survey.

There is no excuse or reasonable explanation for this. Ms Ogilvie beached Parliamentary standing orders, the Ministerial Code of Conduct and the trust of Tasmanians. Then refused to correct the record despite being asked to repeatedly

This is the most blatant lie to Tasmanian Parliament since Adam Brooks’ email exchange. The only difference is that Mr Brooks returned to the Hearing and corrected the record. Ms Ogilvie did not.

If Minister Ogilvie does not resign today, Labor will use every Parliamentary option available to it to hold her to account.