Greyhound Exit – A Masterclass in Political Inertia

And so, the curtain falls, not with a bang, but with the whimper of a government finally, begrudgingly, conceding the utterly undeniable.

Newly appointed Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Minister Jane Howlett have announced the phasing out of greyhound racing by June 30, 2029.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t a bold, principled stand. This is the political equivalent of a child finally admitting the sky is blue after being presented with a thousand scientific papers and a direct view of the heavens.

The timing, naturally, is exquisite. June 30, 2029. What a coincidence!

That’s precisely when the infamous 2009 funding deed – the very lifeline that has kept this morally bankrupt and financially ruinous industry gasping for air – conveniently expires.

Saul Eslake, the independent economist whose May 2025 report was less a critique and more a public execution of the industry’s economic claims, explicitly flagged this date as the government’s ‘opportunity to stop throwing good money after bad.’

It seems the government needed a four-year grace period to digest what Eslake laid out in stark, irrefutable detail.

Eslake’s report wasn’t subtle. It revealed an industry ‘almost entirely dependent on government funding,’ largely as a result of a very generous ‘funding deed’ under which, in 2009, the then State Government agreed to provide an annual grant, indexed to inflation, to Tasracing for twenty years. This was a staggering $12.70 per Tasmanian in 2023-24 – more than double the national average for all states and territories of $5.27 per head.

We’ve poured $74.6 million into this black hole from Tasracing over the past 15 years, with annual funding projected to hit $7.5 million in 2024-25, a 127% increase since 2010-11.

For what? An industry in terminal decline, with plummeting attendances, fewer race starters, employment down and a 26% drop in wagering in just three years.

The greyhound industry claims to make a significant contribution to economic activity and employment in Tasmania. Its economic contribution? A paltry 0.2% of Tasmania’s Gross State Product (GSP) and of total employment.

And the cost per job sustained by public funds? A grotesque 91% surge over a decade, making it, as Eslake so politely put it,

‘one of the least efficient uses of public money’.

So, when Premier Rockliff now intones,

“I’m concerned about the future of the industry and continue to be concerned about animal welfare,” one must suppress a cynical chuckle.

Concerned? For years, animal welfare groups, like the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds and RSPCA Tasmania, have been screaming about the inherent cruelty and the broken in body and spirit dogs discarded by this industry.

Polls have consistently shown overwhelming public opposition, with 75% of Tasmanians against government funding and 79% opposing greyhound racing overall.

An e-petition demanding an end to taxpayer funding broke all parliamentary records with 13,500 signatures.

This industry lost its social licence long ago; the government just chose to wear earplugs.

This measured transition is nothing more than a carefully choreographed retreat, designed to save face and avoid the political fallout of an immediate, decisive cut. It’s a testament not to foresight or ethical awakening, but to the sheer, grinding persistence of advocates who, armed with Eslake’s undeniable economic truths and the roar of public opinion, finally made continued inaction politically untenable.

The government isn’t leading here; it’s being dragged, kicking and screaming, to the finish line.

The ‘line in the sand’ wasn’t drawn by Premier Rockliff; it was etched by the irrefutable data and the collective disgust of Tasmanians.

This isn’t a victory of principle; it’s a grudging surrender to the inevitable, timed for maximum political convenience.

It’s a win, yes, but one that highlights the profound inertia of political will when confronted with uncomfortable truths.

As a long-time contributor to Tasmanian Times, Geoffrey Swan has taken on the role of Acting Chief Editor with a focus on dynamic, independent journalism.

Swan’s background is anything but conventional!

From its beginnings in architecture to concert stage hall management followed by executive leadership at Bell & Howell and Xerox to orchestrating over 3000 major events across Asia-Pacific with one of Australia’s leading event management companies, with a notable event being an APEC summit in Brunei with global leaders President Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, and Jiang Zemin.

In a move that highlights his commitment to modern journalism, Swan was one of just 25 journalists from the Asia Pacific region to be invited into the prestigious Product Immersion for Small Newsrooms program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in 2021.

For the past decade, Swan has been a voice at Tasmanian Times, fearlessly reporting on local government, championing transparency and sparking crucial public discourse.

Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse view of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.

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