Wednesday, 23 December 2009: A newly formed body of prominent racing industry participants is calling on the Federal Productivity Commission to support the campaign for racing to receive a better deal from wagering operators.
The newly formed National Horse Racing Alliance, representing a large number of owners, trainers, breeders, agents and organisations, has made detailed submissions to the Productivity Commission inquiry into gambling in a bid to secure better returns to the racing industry from corporate bookmakers, parimutual operators and betting exchanges.
The NHRA, made up of a broad range of racing participants including owners, trainers, breeders, bloodstock agents and their organisations, has been formed to give the industry participants a national voice and influence on issues affecting their very livelihoods.
The group is advocating the need for an appropriate levy on the turnover of wagering operators, rather than a fee based upon gross profit.
The members include TROA, NSWTA, TBA, Inglis, Magic Millions, Federation of Bloodstock Agents Australia and Randwick Equine Centre. Other state and national bodies are expected to join the alliance.
The NHRA says future investment and employment in the industry is largely dependent on wagering operators paying an appropriate product fee based on betting turnover rather than gross profit.
In both its oral and written submissions to the Productivity Commission, the NHRA has highlighted the need for certainty based on a fair return to trainers, owners, jockeys, strappers, farriers, transport drivers and numerous others who produce the racing product.
The NHRA has submitted that a levy based on wagering operators' gross profit was filled with uncertainty and exposed the future of industry participants to unacceptable risk.
It says the declines in employment and investment in the racing industry are the likely outcome.
Martin Emnifeld QC has appeared on behalf of NHRA before the Productivity Commission's public hearing in Canberra.
Einfeld said many jobs and livelihoods in the industry were at stake.
“No consideration is given in the Draft Report to the prospect of unemployment should the search for greater competition between corporate bookmakers ultimately constrain rather than expand the industry's scope.
"It is not reasonable or practicable to discuss the racing industry merely from the perspective of those who wager on its events” he said.
“The Commission has not recognised that a contracting industry will deliver the opposite outcome to punters than that which is envisaged.
"Reduction in horse numbers may produce smaller fields (poor betting mediums), lesser returns to punters and owners and lower quality racing, as horses migrate to jurisdictions with higher prize money such as in Asia."
In its written response to the Pridctivity Commission's draft report, the NHRA rejected the statement that “if punters prefer better odds then a leaner industry that delivers this is preferable to a larger industry that does not”, stating that it is a recipe for job losses and condemning racing to a lower standing in the entertainment sector.
The NHRA has challenged the Commission's assumption that racing participants were the servants of the gambling industry rather than being a fully fledged industry in their own right.
It has rejected the claim that the Australian racing industry was “not a large scale industry” and existed only as an adjunct to the gambling industry.
The NHRA has submitted that racing needed the investment of owners, breeders, and other participants as well as punters to put on a world class show that, in turn, generates wagering turnover.
It says punters can only participate if the other participants invest the hundreds of millions of dollars required each year, often without certainty of any return.
“Without encouragement of the owners, breeders, trainers and other participants, there is no industry, there is no revenue generated for government," the NHRA said in its submission.
"In short, wagering operators must pay a proper fee for their access to the racing product such as will support the industry on which they operate."
