Media release – Animal Liberation Tasmania, 17 August 2023

Tasracing CEO Andrew Jenkins quotes false statistic in defence of racing industry funding

On 16/8/2023, Andrew Jenkins appeared on ABC morning radio with Leon Compton, defending a racing industry beset on all sides by significant issues including: the suspension of Tasmania’s leading greyhound trainer; footage showing poor conditions at another greyhound property; the placement of the leading thoroughbred stables into receivership; and allegations of race fixing in the harness racing industry.

The issue of government funding arose during the interview. To quote Andrew Jenkins directly:

“[It is] also important to note that that revenue or that funding from the government and our own thirty odd million dollars of additional revenue is invested in racing and works towards the employment indirectly and directly of 6000 Tasmanians day in day out in the industry.”

This is factually incorrect, according to the IER report “Size and Scope of Tasracing June 2021” to which Andrew Jenkins specifically referred in the interview.

Across all three codes there are listed in the report:

262 breeders.

2521 owners.

389 trainers.

677 full-time, part-time, and casual racing club and industry staff.

201 breeding staff.

556 stable/kennel employees.

137 jockeys and drivers.

307 racing club volunteers.

756 volunteers assisting participants.

Total: 5806 (not 6000).

Of the 5806 participants in the industry, 1063 are volunteers. This figure was derived from club and participant surveys, and not all clubs provided data, so that figure could indeed be higher. That means over 18% of industry participants are volunteers. Whilst Animal Liberation Tasmania recognises the invaluable contribution made to our society by volunteers (being a volunteer organisation ourselves) voluntary work is not employment.

The categories of breeder/owner/trainer often over-laps, with individuals breeding, owning, and training their own greyhounds. There is no clarification in the report to indicate whether the number of individuals who do so has been applied to adjust the overall numbers included in each individual category to avoid doubling or tripling up.

Furthermore, breeders and owners are also often not local to Tasmania; to refer to Anthony Bullock, prior to his suspension he trained dogs for the mainland Dozus Two syndicate, who breed, own and train greyhounds themselves in Victoria. The IER report did not mention whether it focused solely on Tasmanian participants; rather, it referred to “Participants in the Tasmanian racing industry.” The wording is ambiguous and thus could ostensibly include interstate participants. Clarification is required.

The report states that the racing industry is responsible for sustaining 1515 FTE jobs in Tasmania, directly and indirectly. This figure appears to be derived from the 677 racing club and industry staff, 201 breeding kennel staff, 556 stable/kennel employees, and 137 jockeys and drivers (adjusted to account for non-full time jobs).

However, this data includes indirect employment, as referred to by Andrew Jenkins in his interview with Leon Compton. The report specifically includes as examples of indirect employment: petrol stations, media organisations (journalists/reporters), accountants, veterinarians and doctors, feed suppliers, tradies, and catering companies. In other words, people who would largely be employed in their respective industries irrespective of the Tasmanian racing industry.

According to the 2016 Tasracing Pty. Ltd, a desktop review of the costs and functions of Tasracing report released by the Tasmanian Treasury: “[…] of the total workforce in Tasmania, 181 people derived their main income from the racing industry. This equates to 0.08% of the Tasmanian workforce.” How did 181 people deriving primary income from the racing industry become 1515 FTE jobs sustained by the racing industry in under 3 years? And how did that then become 6000 Tasmanians employed directly or indirectly by the racing industry four years later?

To say that the figure of 6000 Tasmanians being indirectly or directly employed by the racing industry (as clearly stated by Andrew Jenkins on yesterday’s program) has been heavily massaged is an understatement.

The racing industry is experiencing a significant loss in social licence and is struggling with how it is perceived by the broader community. But how is the community expected to believe the numbers and statements made by representatives of the racing industry, in relation to deaths of animals or the tracking and transparency of animals being retired out of racing for example, when representatives blatantly over-inflate the economic and employment relevance of the industry?

Andrew Jenkins mentioned that the government funding given to Tasracing was in compensation for the sale of the TOTE in 2009, which was created only 10 years prior in 1999 to oversee racing, gambling and integrity. Tasracing was established in 2009 to oversee industry governance. When the TOTE was sold to Tatts Group Ltd. in the December of 2011 (with the sale finalised in March 2012), it was bought for $103 million. According to Tasracing Annual Reports from 2012-2022, they have thus far received just over $338 million dollars in ‘compensation’. With the funding deed set to continue until 2029, based on a modest estimate of $30 million per annum until then, Tasracing will have received over half a billion dollars in taxpayer-funded ‘compensation’ between 2012 and the end of the deed.

Despite claiming the industry wishes to be the masters of their own ‘commercial destiny’, Andrew Jenkins also stated that Tasracing will pursue the continuation of government funding beyond the ending of the funding deed. Where is the integrity in claiming half a billion dollars in ‘compensation’ then demanding more beyond the prescribed period whilst simultaneously attempting to assert commercial autonomy?

If Tasracing truly wishes to be a self-sustaining master of its own commercial destiny, they must decouple from the government and refuse to accept money beyond the funding deed. They must sustain themselves on their own dime, and if they cannot, then the industry must fold. Indeed, the defunding of Tasracing is preferable sooner rather than later.