THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - A 'SHOW CAUSE' CALL TO THE QUEENSLAND RACING MINISTER

By Graham Potter | Sunday, June 28, 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.

Well the state government’s cleanout of Racing Queensland’s top hierarchy is almost complete.

The Racing Minister didn’t quite show former CEO Darren Condon the door on Friday ... Condon has not being allowed in the RQ building since being stood down and asked to ‘show cause’ why he should not be relieved of duty ... but the message was the same.

Decision made. You’re out of here!

So now that’s Condon officially gone on the back of the sacking all of the racing boards that previously operated under the Racing Queensland banner while Wade Birch is the most recent to join the queue ... or should I say, walk the plank ... after being asked to show why he should be retrained as General Manager of Stewards and Integrity Operations.

Given the sackings that have gone before Birch will need a miracle to survive.

So here’s the question. While other people, rightly or wrongly, are being called to account, isn’t it perhaps time that the Racing Minister himself ‘show cause’ as to why the larger racing fraternity should have any confidence in him moving forward?

Anybody can clean out, but it is the Minister’s decisiveness in acting prudently on important operational issues that will be the more meaningful barometer as to his own effectiveness.

If he is to be effective, or otherwise, all those dependent on racing for a living and all those outside racing who are at least partly dependent on racing’s massive contribution to state’s coffers, via taxation, for the their own standard of living ... need to know, sooner rather than later.

So here are just six ‘show cause’ pointers for the Minister.

How long will Racing Queensland be run by an accounting firm and at what cost to the industry?

On what basis does the Minister recognise any value in the proposed makeup of the new seven person board where four ‘independents’ can collectively hold sway of power and hold racing stakeholders to ransom?

Does the Minister actually believe there is such a thing as an ‘independent’ board member?

On what basis is an All-Code board favoured over the industry preferred option of having the thoroughbred, greyhound and racing codes run independently from each other?

When will the Eagle Farm racetrack development be signed off? An inherited problem to be sure but no less important for all that. A resolution is needed urgently for a number of reasons. At the very least stakeholders need to know the truth of the current situation. Can the Minister comply?

Is a change to the stakes base in Queensland under consideration or not? If so, why?

Concise, to-the-point answers should not be difficult for somebody who has a clearly defined plan for racing’s future from which all racing stakeholder’s could take great encouragement.

There is no catch.

Goodwill, honesty and ready communication from the Racing Minister on issues of concern to stakeholders will go a long way towards getting everybody to push the same scrum instead of pulling in different directions.

Will the Minister oblige?

Well the ‘show cause’ ball has been lobbed into his court.

It will be interesting to see what shot he plays in return!

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