THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - ACTION REQUIRED NOW, NOT LATER, IF INTEGRITY IS TO BE RESTORED

By Graham Potter | Sunday, February 22, 2015

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

While this particular commentary piece moves away from horse racing only, it does so on the basis that Racing Queensland is the control body of all three racing codes in the state and that details of how they are handling matters in one area might give greater insight into the state of play in the broader racing landscape.

The vision aired on the Four Corners programme on Monday defies description.

Suffice to say it displayed animal cruelty at its most horrendous and the actions of those filmed stained the greyhound industry with a stench that will not go away for some time.

The perpetrators will get their comeuppance, but the rollout of the ‘change for good’ simply cannot stop there if confidence is going to be restored to greyhound racing before the damage caused by this unseemly episode becomes irreparable.

NSW, Victoria and Queensland authorities have all reacted to the Four Corners programme but only one of them has got it right so far.

Troy Grant, the NSW Racing Minister, has dismissed the entire board of Greyhound Racing NSW and referred their powers to interim chief executive officer and head of the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing, Paul Newson.

In moving to restore the integrity of the industry Grant acknowledged that, “the community has lost confidence in the industry, and we now need clear air in order to reform and reshape the industry."

Mr Grant added, “simple questions need to be answered as to what resources were not deployed and how do we make sure that the community has confidence the integrity of the industry can be upheld.”

NSW’s first response was the correct one. The Racing Minister recognised the need for strong, immediate action and made his call accordingly.

By contrast the Victorian government announced it had appointed an independent commission to investigate live baiting within the state and would not take any action until the report from that investigation had been tabled.

No mention of the cost or the timeframe for completion. Sound familiar.

Those who have been in racing for a while know only too well how costly such commissions can be, how little return there can be on that investment ... and, most importantly, how little they achieve in terms of shoring up customer confidence.

As a first response, Victoria got it wrong.

And so to Queensland.

Racing Queensland suddenly created a $1 million taskforce to combat allegations of cruelty in the greyhound industry.

An admirable step or just another knee-jerk reaction to pacify those pounding at the door?

Time will tell ... but, then again, greyhound racing doesn’t have time to consolidate.

For the moment, taking action now in terms of dealing with what went wrong and why ... and yes, who dropped the ball, is more important than future plans if the greyhound industry is indeed to have a future.

As a first response, Queensland too, got it wrong ... most particularly when an earlier e-mail sent to Racing Queensland requesting a meeting to discuss cruel and illegal training methods was not acted upon.

“It fell through the cracks’ was how one highly placed official put it ... while animals suffered.

More shame on them.

The shock, horror of it all is terrible but the revelations have also brought opportunity ... an opportunity to clean up greyhound racing with a heavy handled broom once and for all.

It will be interesting to see if the greyhound industry is up for it?

NEWS UPDATE (February 22).

RQ statement (media release) regarding Mr Wade Birch.

The Queensland All Codes Racing Industry Board (QACRIB) advises General Manager of Stewarding and Integrity Operations Wade Birch has been stood down pending an internal review of the integrity department and its inspection procedures.

QACRIB chairman Kevin Dixon said in the wake of evidence of live-baiting occurring within the greyhound industry, the procedures of the integrity department needed to be addressed.

“Information that has to come to light in the past week suggests there are procedural issues within the integrity area of the business. As Mr Birch is the officer responsible for that department, the board has taken the decision that it is appropriate to stand Mr Birch down while those short-comings are further understood,” Mr Dixon said.

“There is no allegation of improper conduct on Mr Birch’s part, however in the board’s view, it was appropriate he be stood down until the review is completed.

“Racing Queensland will be making appropriate arrangements in the next day to cover the position, with the view to implementing the recommendations of that internal review.”

Wade Birch: Stood down

The Queensland All Codes Racing Industry Board (QACRIB) advises General Manager of Stewarding and Integrity Operations Wade Birch (pictured above) has been stood down pending an internal review of the integrity department and its inspection procedures.

All Codes Board Chairman Kevin Dixon stated: “Information that has to come to light in the past week suggests there are procedural issues within the integrity area of the business. As Mr Birch is the officer responsible for that department, the board has taken the decision that it is appropriate to stand Mr Birch down while those short-comings are further understood,” Mr Dixon said.

“There is no allegation of improper conduct on Mr Birch’s part, however in the board’s view, it was appropriate he be stood down until the review is completed.