Greyhound Racing

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:29): My question is to the Minister for Racing. Minister, what is the government's response to the announcement today that the commercial greyhound racing industry is being banned in New South Wales?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (14:29): I thank the member for Little Para for the question. Mike Baird, the New South Wales Premier, has today announced the banning of greyhound racing in that state from July next year. He has based that on a report commissioned by the New South Wales government. It followed a pretty horrendous showing of some really bad things that were happening in New South Wales and Queensland in the greyhound racing industry last year or the year before, and they were very disturbing images.

At that stage, we went out and asked the South Australian public to please come forward and report to the police, the RSPCA, the government or any other authority anything that may be untoward in greyhound racing in South Australia. We can never be 100 per cent certain that there is nothing happening here, but from all the discussions we have had, and from the knowledge that I have as a former owner of greyhounds dating back to the 1980s, we do not think that sort of thing is happening here.

In fact, I want to congratulate Greyhound Racing SA on the exemplary way in which they have modernised racing in South Australia. They originally set a target for 2020 to have zero deaths in the greyhound racing industry, which has now been brought forward to 2018, which is just two years away. They are doing things like limiting the breeding of greyhounds for racing. While New South Wales has thousands of dogs being put down each year because they were not good enough to make it to the track or be competitive on the track, South Australia breeds less than 10 per cent of the number of dogs than in New South Wales.

We also have a wonderful rehoming program. The government is proud to have worked with Greyhound Racing SA over the years in our prisons to have prisoners retrain the greyhounds that have been bred to race, and to re-educate them and make them ideal pets for people of all ages. They are wonderful pets, and it has been terrific to see the increased number of greyhounds who are going through this process and finding wonderful homes. Instead of being killed because they were no longer suitable for racing, they are finding a new purpose in life and bringing joy to people in nursing homes and in private residences right around South Australia.

I contacted my Victorian counterpart, Minister for Racing Martin Pakula, and he said Victoria has no intention of following the New South Wales lead either. I understand that Queensland will also not follow New South Wales' lead. I spoke with Michael Fabbro from Greyhound Racing SA. We are going to have to be careful in the next 12 to 18 months, as New South Wales moves to get rid of the greyhound racing industry, that we do not get the bad apples from New South Wales coming into South Australia.

The report handed to the New South Wales government showed that 20 per cent of trainers and dog owners in New South Wales still thought it was acceptable to use live baiting to train their greyhounds to go out onto the racetrack. That has not been accepted as a good thing to do in South Australia for decades. As I said, we cannot be 100 per cent sure, but the anecdotal evidence we have following the calls that we have put out for people to come forward with evidence of others doing the wrong thing in South Australia has so far shown up with zero.

This industry is worth $50 million to South Australia's economy each year. It employs hundreds of people right throughout South Australia. It is a form of racing that is accessible to all South Australians. As a government, we stand by Greyhound Racing SA and those people who participate in it, and we will continue to work with them for the good of the sport.