THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN: THIS IS A CASE WHERE ONE PARTY IS AS BAD AS THE OTHER

By Graham Potter | Friday, November 24, 2017

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.

So they are throwing (theoretical) millions of dollars around now!

Should we be impressed? I am not.

The fact that the Labor Party and the Liberal National Party have both come out with a burst of promised financial support for racing in Queensland during their respective election campaigns hardly registers on the excitement barometer.

It is not just racing of course. Literally hundreds of other sectors of society are made seductive promises that are designed to leave them love struck just long enough to mark the voting paper in the ‘right’ block.

But the lead up to an election is just a hot spot of manipulative intent. In their self-indulged blitz of how good they are and what they say they can achieve, politicians suddenly expect us to believe they care for racing. Suddenly it is a vital industry for reasons ranging from the economy to employment statistics.

That is until they get what they want ... and when the one night stand is over (if you can read the form) they will drop their greater responsibility to racing like a ton of bricks.

I’m sorry but I can’t believe a word they say.

The one party is as bad as the other.

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How’s this for a policy?

If both parties are sincere about looking after the well-being of racing they should have no problem implementing the following two part strategy.

A racing board has to be put in place which will offer stability and continuity of racing administration and whose positions will not be effected by the whims of the ballot box.

That is ... the makeup of the board does not change simply because of an election result and racing will thus cease being a political football which has been kicked around so much it has become deflated.

But hold on a moment. Before those on that board get too comfortable, I did say a two part strategy and the second part is arguably more important than the first part.

A position on that board will come with measured accountability and that measure has to be determined, in a prescribed way, by the racing’s stakeholders whom they serve.

It cannot be jobs for friends without any performance criteria attached.

Two simple changes for massive benefit.

Am I in dreamland?

Probably, but no more than those who believe politician’s election promises.