New era for Racing NSW as Labor is ushered into power

‘My understanding is Peter V’landys and Minns have already met on a number of occasions’

For 12 years, Racing NSW supremo Peter V’landys has had the ear of a coalition government in NSW, coinciding with the most prosperous period in the history of the state’s thoroughbred industry.

On Saturday, with the Liberal-National coalition decisively shown the door by NSW constituents after three terms in government, Labor was charged by voters with leading the state under 43-year-old premier-elect Chris Minns.

Not since 2011, when then premier Kristina Keneally was on the nose with voters and Bob Carr, Morris Iemma and Nathan Rees before her, has Labor held the keys to the state coffers.  

Liberal Party leader Barry O’Farrell took office as premier on March 28, 2011, almost 12 months to the day prior to the landmark High Court ruling which allowed the peak thoroughbred regulator to impose Race Fields Fees on wagering operators who were betting on the state’s racing industry.

That judgement, and through the support of the state government, has seen prize-money skyrocket to record levels with more than $311 million distributed to participants during the 2021-22 racing season, a figure higher than any other Australian state.

Former state Labor MP and racing minister Kevin Greene, who was in Parliament from 1999 to 2011, served for a term on the Racing NSW board until 2018 and yesterday he was confident that the industry would “continue to flourish under a newly elected Minns Labor government”. 

“The relationship that Racing NSW has established with the government crosses the political divide and, as I say, it’ll continue to move forward in a positive way,” Greene told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“I think there’s a strong core of Labor members who have a good understanding and most importantly an appreciation of the racing industry as a whole and what it brings to NSW certainly from an employee perspective. 

“There’s 50,000 people in NSW who are employed in the industry and they appreciate that and they also understand the value of carnivals and events and what they bring to the community. 

“That applies not just to The Championships this weekend in Sydney but also the impact of the qualifiers, for instance, for the Country Championships and the Provincial Championships as well as country cups and events that take place across the state.”

Greene suggested that V’landys, who is also the Australian Rugby League chairman, would quickly be able to establish a strong rapport with the newly elected premier Minns.

He said: “My understanding is Peter V’landys and he [Minns] have already met on a number of occasions and I am sure that Peter will develop a strong relationship with Chris and whoever ultimately takes on the responsibility as the minister for racing.”

George Souris, another former racing minister and The Nationals Member of Upper Hunter for 27 years, is a current Racing NSW board member while board chairman Russell Balding is also well equipped in government relations as a former public servant in the NSW Department of Housing and Roads and Traffic Authority before taking on the role as managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

During the more than a decade of a Liberal-National government, Racing NSW’s long-term chief executive V’landys, who has been in the role since February 2004, negotiated a greater share of wagering tax to be returned to the industry and that parity was reached with what Racing Victoria receives from its state government.

In 2015, with then premier Mike Baird leading the coalition, the NSW government agreed to roll out tax parity in line with what Racing Victoria receives from its state government gambling taxes. 

Over five years, an extra $235 million was returned to the NSW racing industry and a subsequent estimated extra $90 million ongoing after the initial return to industry of the gambling revenue. 

In 2021, ousted Liberal leader Dominic Perrottet, then the state’s treasurer, was on hand at Scone racecourse in the Hunter Valley alongside racing minister Kevin Anderson, who held the ministry from December 2021 until the coalition’s election defeat at the weekend.  

At the announcement, in the heart of the Hunter Valley almost two years ago, Perrottet, then Nationals leader John Barilaro, Anderson and V’landys revealed $20 million would be spent on the Scone site to build a Polytrack and a stable complex to house an additional 300 horses for training on course.

A $4.2 million upgrade was also confirmed for nearby Muswellbrook as part of a $67 million fund for racing infrastructure around the state. 

Nationals MP Anderson retained his seat of Tamworth despite a swing of 12.9 per cent against him (vote counting is continuing).

Participants in the South Australian industry will argue that a lack of government support for racing can cripple an industry.

During the past 12 years, South Australian racing, under Liberal and Labor governments, has withered on the vine, with leading stables such as Lindsay Park and Tony McEvoy moving their businesses interstate and Philip Stokes establishing his main base in Victoria. 

V’landys was unavailable for comment while Balding declined to comment yesterday.

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