BEN CURRIE NOW ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE FENCE IN QUEENSLAND RACING'S APPEALS SYSTEM PROCESS

By Graham Potter | Monday, September 20, 2021

It would be fair to say that Queensland Racing’s judicial system has long been ridiculed for its inefficiency to deal with matters in a swift and telling manner … ie one which would be for the greater good of all, not least including the good name of racing.

The first recourse for a person handed down a guilty verdict on a charge in Queensland is to go to an internal review and, if they are unhappy with that outcome, they can move the case on the QCAT (The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal), where months and months … and months, can pass before the case reaches any resolution. And then, if again unhappy with that finding, for those inclined to take the matter further, they can take their matter to the higher courts in the land.

The benefit for those fighting for their cause inside this system is that, invariably, they will continue to ride or train under a stay of proceedings until the matter progresses which, of course, is very much to their advantage. In fact, without exaggerating, sometimes when a final verdict is handed down, so much time has passed that is hard to remember why the charge was laid in the first place!

Some call that playing the system … but the fact is that is a system which allows itself to be played and so, in essence, it is hardly the fault of those ‘playing the system’ if they are only exercising their rights as allowed under this flawed appeals system structure.

In the past, former trainer Ben Currie and his lawyer spent plenty of time combating a series of charges, some of a very serious nature, and defending his name while often continuing to train under that stay of proceedings option. He won some appeals, lost others, had sentences reduced and more … all over a really unacceptable long period of time, which, because of the time factor involved, on occasions, arguably played very much to his advantage.

While it was an uncomfortable position to be in, Currie was at least able to fight for his cause from within the system which allowed him a lot of room to manoeuvre.

Now, however, Currie is finding out first-hand the frustration that the Queensland industry as a whole has been feeling for so long with regard to the way judicial decisions are handled.

Currie is no longer operating within the system but is knocking at the door from the outside and, right now, nobody is opening the door with his application for a license to return to training in Queensland being rejected by QRIC (The Queensland Racing and Integrity Commission).

Currie has indicated he will seek an Internal Review … and you would guess that if he came up short there he will lodge his case with QCAT.

And so right now, being on the other side of the fence, unlike before, there is no gain for Currie in any delay and, with no timeline in place, if the matter does end up at QCAT and if the past is any prediction of the future, Currie could be in for a very long wait before he gets any final result.

Having been out for so long, maybe Currie doesn’t mind how long it takes to get a result but, once again his name is highlighting the fact that Queensland Racing’s judicial system needs a revamp.

That’s not news. You can’t even call it an urgent revamp anymore … it has gone way beyond that!

Grace Grace, the current Queensland Racing Minister (it is her second time around) and her predecessor Stirling Hinchliffe, over the years have been given suggestions and advice on how the appeals system can be improved, by people with a strong racing background, yet the government continues to score an outright fail on this subject.

Is this outcome forged out of arrogance, ignorance, indifference or something else? You can take your pick.

Several so-called consultation processes between Government and racing identities have come and gone (it is really a consultation process if nobody appears to be listening) and all the government have managed to come up with over almost as long a period it takes to decide one of the more complicated cases is to provide lip service without any significant content and no follow-up action.

They like to talk about integrity in racing being above all else, and transparency being another all-important factor.

But then again, talk, as we have seen, is cheap!

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