politics

Countdown on for Racing Industry Bill submissions

/ Mezzasez

As we count down to the final date for submissions on the Racing Industry Bill it is becoming clear that few of those expressing a view on its contents have actually read it.

Distressingly, those same people also seem unfamiliar with the contents of the Messara Report thus it is incredibly simple to flannel them into believing that the proposed Bill delivers what Messara promised.

One of the results of this is people posting misinformation on racing chat sites which is then swallowed as gospel by those who have neither read nor understood any of what was originally proposed.  The old saying about a lie travelling halfway round the world before the truth has its boots on, has never been more apt.

During the past week the RITA roadshow has been chugging around the country to ease the fears of the racing industry when it comes to the contents of the Bill.  Unfortunately, that task has meant they have had to work to defend the indefensible.

No one with skin in the game would believe that those with racing’s best interests at heart would have supported the mangling of some of the clauses of the current Bill to the extent that the intent of the Messara Report has been neutered.  So if the Racing Minister, who delivered us Messara, and the RITA Board, which the Minister appointed to drive those recommendations through, had the right intentions, the derailing of those intentions has to lie with DIA.

The DIA officials can be forgiven for not understanding the intricate workings of the racing industry, there are some who pontificate loudly through online chat rooms who have still yet to learn the differences between the code bodies and the former NZRB/current RITa set ups!

But where they have failed us all, is by continuing down the nanny-state knows best line and, presumably against the urgings of the RITA Board, over-riding those concerns by applying multiple Ministerial handbrakes.  While they might have felt that level of Ministerial involvement in the inner-workings of the industry (appointments to the TAB Board, and approval of any joint-venture partnering of the TAB for example) was necessary, it is diametrically opposed to the fundamental thrust of the Messara Report.

Let’s not mince words, what we have now is broken.  Patching it back together with cherry-picked portions of the Messara Report and a solid dose of random sections of the old Racing Act is not going to get this industry off life-support.

But while it is widely agreed that the Bill is not fit-for-purpose in its current state, it is not beyond redemption.  The codes and RITA continue to work on reaching agreement on a number of clauses, as outlined in the handouts at this week’s RITA meetings around the country.  In addition to this, there is a surprising level of agreement around the country, cross-code and at all levels of involvement, as to which areas of the Bill fall into the non-negotiable area.

With a tick over two weeks left before submissions close on Tuesday 11 February everyone with an interest in the future of the racing industry in New Zealand should be putting pen to paper (or better still go here and click on the green button which says “I am ready to make a submission” and submit online).

Your submission doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just clearly express your concerns.  If you, like me, are worried that the Bill in its current format, has lost the essence of the Messara Report recommendations then say so.  Your submission should also include some detail around your involvement within the industry – owner, breeder, trainer, jockey, stablehand, administrator, punter – many of us can tick a number of those boxes.

I would especially encourage those in the younger brigade who are at the early stages of their careers to make sure they submit and also to make sure they state they also wish to make an oral submission.  The grey-heads will be out in force – mainly because most have lived through a similar process in 2003 and realise the importance – but the Select Committee needs to hear from those who need this industry to survive if they are to have a career in it.

We have an opportunity to get this Bill back on track, it is our responsibility to see that the Select Committee is aware of our concerns and  the need to address them.

Industry blueprint unrecognisable in Racing Industry Bill

/ Mezzasez / 3 Comments

Towards the end of last year, I was gently scolded by a gentleman who has been a constant presence in the industry for as long as I have been involved.  He wanted to know what had happened to this blog, why I wasn’t writing and whether I had been effectively “gagged.”

To be honest what had really happened was that I had lost motivation, as I could see things beginning to evolve following the release of the Messara report and the passing of the Racing Amendment Act, the industry did appear to be progressing.  While the pace of the progress was not ideal, I was prepared to err on the side of the old Mainland cheese advert, “good things take time.”

Given the time between the release of the Messara Report (30 August 2018 for those who need reminding) and the appearance of the Racing Industry Bill I was expecting a well-crafted document.  Unfortunately, what did finally emerge looked as though it had been put together by a bunch of people with little familiarity with the industry; how it currently works; and what Messara intended.

A mishmash of cut-and-paste from the existing Bill and garbled interpretations of what was a very clearly articulated blueprint of how things should look, there appear to be so many fingerprints on this Bill it would be difficult to pin the crime on one culprit.

That lengthy preamble is what passes as an explanation as to why I have breathed life back into this blog.  I am motivated to ensure that as many people as possible are aware of the yawning difference between what Messara created and what the bureaucrats have delivered.

I keep coming back to the fact that in the Messara Report we had a blueprint.  The Minister then applied due diligence appointing the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) to run a ruler over the Messara Report.  Subsequently we ended up with RITA, the Racing Industry Transition Agency which was intended to maintain BAU as the industry moved from the horrors of the past to a brave new world.

My fellow blogger Brian de Lore provided a handful of the Racing Minister’s better comments from his speech in Hamilton at the launch of the Messara Report and I recommend you read that here.  However, there were a few others which provide a reminder of how the Minister saw the industry at that time.

“If you think I’m a harbinger of doom of gloom, read the Racing Board’s annual report out this year,” he stated.

“Here is a fact. This year a three-year revolving debt facility was established to supplement the NZRB balance sheet.

And total equity is budgeted to decline by $15.6 million this year.”

So that is where we were and what John Messara gave us was a map out of the NZRB-created maze into what promised to be a utopia.  Armed with that document one could be forgiven for thinking there was a glimmer of light at the end of the interminable tunnel we have been negotiating. And then the tinkering began and with the release of the Racing Industry Bill it was apparent that the wheels had well and truly fallen off.  Somewhere along the line the Messara Report had been hijacked and it would seem that whoever stuck their oar in was limited in knowledge of the industry, how it functioned and why Messara flagged the changes he did.

A very wise racing administrator, on first viewing of the Racing Industry Bill, told me his one recollection from his school days and his Tech Drawing class was that when one started to remove elements from a blueprint then it impacted on the integrity of the structure.  And that is what the gang of Bill writers, or those who influenced them, achieved.

What we have now bears a resemblance to the Messara report in much the same way that Bold Personality bore a resemblance to Fine Cotton.

Those with a desire to see this industry grow and thrive need to familiarise themselves with the key clauses of the Racing Industry Bill and how they create a very different final outcome to that predicted by Messara.  And please, don’t just read the Explanatory Note at the beginning and think you’ve got it covered.  It paints a picture so different from the Bill that it is clear the writers of each had possibly never been introduced.

Once au fait with the Bill and how it is written compare the significant areas around code functions, governance and appointments to the TAB, not to mention government interference, with the intention of the Messara Review’s recommendations.  A simple submission could be created purely around those issues.

The industry (not to mention others who believe themselves impacted) has until 11 February to make submissions.  It also must mobilise and unite as never before to ensure their local MP (in this election year) is well aware of our views.

 

Racing Reform Bill out of the gates

/ Mezzasez

If you ever wanted to know just how the racing industry is perceived by those who run the country, then tuning into watch proceedings in parliament on Tuesday would have left you with a clear picture.

From being an industry where most of those stalking the corridors of power had at least some passing interest, racing has declined to something from the dim distant past. Most of those speaking were left scrambling to find a tenuous racing tale to demonstrate their connection.  And that was just those on the government’s side of the House.   The Nats, once natural bedfellows of the racing industry, showed a mixture of relief that they no longer had to deal with the seemingly, never-ending demands from the racing brigade and outright antipathy.

The occasion was the first reading of the Racing Reform Bill which is being fast-tracked through select committee and scheduled to be reported back to the House by 11 June.  If you’ve read the RRB and have any thoughts about making a submission to select committee then you will need to be quick.  That window of opportunity, currently open, will slam shut on Tuesday 4 June – the initial date was Monday until someone realised it was a public holiday.

While long-time watchers of the theatre which surrounds our law-making will have seen through much of the posturing and playing of roles on Tuesday, the uninitiated were possibly left astounded.

Here I have to confess that I have, on occasion, watched Question Time at parliament purely for the amusement value.  But the amusement value on Tuesday was limited due to the fact they were talking about something close to my heart.

Even knowing that everyone in the House was playing a role, and  the arguments were focused on not giving a sucker and even break (with the sucker being those on the other side) rather than doing anything to advance the cause of the racing industry, it was not an easy watch.

Make no mistake, politicians don’t particularly like the racing industry. Not all of them are as honest as Gerry Brownlee who described racing as “dull” but scratch any of the hokey old stories told to demonstrate some form of kinship with the industry and you will find a card-carrying opponent to our industry.

Sure, they will show up when they have too – usually around election time, but they would rather have nothing to do with us.

It wasn’t always so.  Back in the ancient past – around the time of the formation of the TAB, whose ownership Mr Brownlee is so keen to determine, many MPs were prominent racehorse owners.

One of the Wellington Cup winners (at Trentham, the track whose name Mr Brownlee struggled to recall) that my grandfather trained was owned by the then-Speaker of the House Sir Matthew Oram.

It made sense for MPs to have some involvement in racing, given that at the time the local racecourse was the perfect place to meet with a wide range of one’s constituents.  This continued to be the case through to the early 1980s.  Former MP Marilyn Waring, while revisiting the fight to get female jockeys licensed, told me she was a regular attendee at the Waipa races during her time in parliament for that very reason.

The world has moved on and politicians have no real need for racing any more.  Of course, the industry itself is not blameless when it comes to the disconnect between the industry and all-but-Winston.

Who wouldn’t lose patience with an industry which, despite numerous Royal Commissions, Reviews and Recommendations designed to drag it (kicking and screaming) into a bright new future, managed to find new and different ways to muck things up?

Is it any wonder the politicians manage to side-step any possible engagement with industry representatives when they are constantly presented with problems and never solutions?

The industry has a long history of shooting itself in the foot with politicians.  Bad mouthing them and their efforts to drag the industry out of the mire and then acting surprised when future efforts to get alongside said politician are met with the cold shoulder.

Racing administrators have, over the years, behaved like that annoying whiny kid-adult who having left home years earlier still can’t understand why his parents won’t keep funding his lifestyle.

Presumably the Racing Reform Bill will get across the line in the prescribed (truncated, according to the Nats) time-frame and we will be off into another brave new future with any amendments or changes agreed upon throughout the process.

While there were some cringe-making comments during Tuesday’s first reading Gerry Brownlee, despite his apparently loathing of racing, did also offer a credible piece of insight into what has helped stymie the industry over the years.

“I think every effort that they’ve made, commendable as it is, falls short because the industry itself have never been prepared to take into their number—to put on their boards, to bring into their fold—people who have a bit of an entrepreneurial bent and a considerable love for the horse racing sport,” he said.

Gerry, you said a mouthful!

 

Industry saviour or footnote in history which way will Avondale jump?

/ Mezzasez / 1 Comment

It’s that time of year when racing clubs around the country hold their AGMs.

Usually these are fairly tame affairs where those cajoled into standing for vacant spots on boards or committees discover their fate and the chairman delivers the good (more often bad) news regarding finances.  The prevailing demographic is old and older and generally one can expect a question from the floor about what is being done to attract “the young people”.

Laughingly, I was once considered one of those aforementioned young people and, having fallen for the patter and ended up on the committee of two country racing clubs in quick succession, was the one this question was usually directed at.  Making it attractive, entertaining, comfortable and not treating us like second-class citizens was apparently not the answer they wanted.

Anyway, unlike most racing clubs time moves on and here we are at a most interesting crossroads in our country’s racing history.

Which way will we turn in this our “now or never moment” as Racing Minister Winston Peters described it?

There is one club AGM which I would certainly love to attend, as would most wondering whether self-interest will be placed above the future of the industry.  The Avondale Jockey Club holds its AGM at 4.30pm on Tuesday, 30 October (incidentally the same time and date as the Auckland Racing Club conducts its AGM).  Anyone want to lay bets as to how much time is likely to be taken up with discussion around the Messara report and the proposed closure of the track?

In the interests of full disclosure, I have a small family connection to the Avondale track.  My great-uncle Jack Burgess, he who prepared the great weight-carrying mare Soneri when training out of Otaki, later moved to Avondale.  A highlight of his time training from the Avondale track was taking out the 1966 Great Northern Steeplechase with Confer.

I also recall going to watch the first horse I owned racing under lights at Avondale in the bitter cold.  It might have been an idea ahead of its time, but it was also the wrong time and definitely the wrong place.

There has been plenty of discussion around track closure following the release of the Messara report, most of it emotive.  The important thing we should all agree with is that we have too many tracks and 20 need to go.  The make-up of that 20 might differ slightly from the courses named in the Messara report but Avondale should be non-negotiable.

Its potential value to the industry is immense and, should its custodians realise that and act with grace while relocating their racing operations to Ellerslie they will be forever remembered as industry saviours.

Should they decide to go down the “man the barricades” route they will remain a footnote in history akin to the Takapuna club which disappeared in the 1930s.

Just imagine if things had been different and the industry was currently sitting on an asset like that on the North Shore.

Its worth revisiting a bit of the Takapuna club’s history here.  It got slammed in the 1921 Earl Royal Commission (as did Avondale, more about that later) and its future at that time was decidedly shaky.

Takapuna managed to survive for another dozen or so years, largely since few of the recommendations in the Earl Commission were acted upon.  Remember we have a history of commissioning reports and then ignoring them when the solutions offered are politically unpalatable.  Or worse still, when the interests of the squeaky (but wobbly) wheel are placed ahead of the future health of the industry.

When the demise finally came for Takapuna it was due to safety and financial concerns with the Racing Conference refusing to be budged once the decision was made.

A fatal fall in a five-horse race at Takapuna on 27 January 1934 sealed the club’s fate and the club president Ewen Alison delivered his final report to members on 25 September that year.

He bemoaned the fact that the club had, over the previous 25 years, spent in extent of 63,000 pounds in “course construction, in the erection of buildings, in extensive concrete terracing which provided accommodation of 14,000 people, each of whom could view the races as well as from the grandstand.”

Despite the club’s pleas the Racing Conference had notified them that it would no longer grant any permits to race on the course which lead to Alison making this extraordinary claim:

“The Racing Conference is necessarily vested with wide powers, but it is expected that the power shall be reasonably and justly exercised.  I have no hesitation in saying that never in the history of racing has such a monstrous injustice or greater wrong been inflicted on any racing club in the world.”

(Avondale: “Hold my beer.”)

Anyway, hard done by or not the upshot was that the club’s course and assets were gifted to the people of Devonport. Takapuna then raced at Ellerslie until its debts were cleared and the membership was absorbed by the Auckland Racing Club and the Takapuna club disappeared into the ether.

Avondale, should it determine to go down the petty, vindictive road where its assets go anywhere other than back to the industry, will have an interesting footnote in our history.

They are no stranger to drama.  In the earlier mentioned Earl Commission, it was suggested the club was “unnecessary and…should not be permitted to hold totalisator licenses urgently desired by country and other clubs with infinitely better claims.”

The structure of the club had concerned the commission, having had a small membership from its inception.

Tapestry of Turf detailed this as follows: “Only 13 new members had been elected in the last eight years and there was an exceedingly discouraging rule in regard to the personnel of the committee.  The club now had 29 members; one had permanently left the Dominion and, of the remaining 28, 23 were members also of the Auckland Racing Club.  Only 21 had paid the annual subscription.  Of the 16 on either the committee or stewards, 13 were members of the Auckland Racing Club.  Not one member lived in Avondale or its vicinity.  Little attention had been paid to providing training facilities and there was only one small training stable at Avondale.”

There were also concerns around the way the club was structured.  However, somehow Avondale managed to struggle through and survive that glitch.

Subsequently, though there have been major potholes along the way, consider the following snippets from the club’s own website:

  • April 1987 sees the first night racing meeting at Avondale. Installation of lighting and related infrastructure costs about $8 million.
  • In 1989 the Club sold surplus land in Wingate Street to the Housing Corporation for $600,000. At the Club’s 100th AGM of Members held on 17 October 1989, Eddie Doherty, President, said that on course attendance figures had increased substantially by having all mid-week fixtures as night meetings. The Club’s $5.4m debt to the Bank of New Zealand is subject to winding up proceedings by the bank in November 1989. The Club had tried to sell parcels of land to avoid financial collapse but did not succeed. The Racing Authority steps in to take over the Club’s governance and management with a Board of Control (comprising D McElroy, J Wells and T Green).
  • Hundreds of floodlights from the AJC night racing meetings are in a fire-sale by the Club for $130,000 in 1992.
  • In response to the AJC’s submission in 2008 on the possible closure of the track, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s chief executive Paul Bittar takes a hard-line. Bittar says the Club is expendable, justifying his opinion by stating management was underperforming and a sale of the asset would realise $60 million.
  • NZTR continues its look at its options to improve racing in Auckland – having suggested closure of Avondale so that Ellerslie and Pukekohe are the regional courses. A greenfield option is present too. “The Aucklander” reports (July 2009) that Avondale is saddle sore, saying that the racecourse has seen better days and the Club is under increasing pressure to close.
  • April 2015 saw the sale of a parcel of land (9,719 m2) not part of racing operations at the Western end of the track. The unimproved site had been subdivided from the main racecourse title in early 2014 and was marketed for 12 months.

Note:  The sale of the land in 2015 for $2.75m ($50,000 under CV) was reported to have cleared any remaining “major” debt.

What next for Avondale? There are really two choices and I think the final word should be left to the Racing Minister who asked the following when launching the Messara report:

“Would you accept track closures if it leads to saving your club, and creating a greater pool in prizemoney to generate further investment in ownership?”

Your call Avondale.