Animal Welfare (Jumps Racing) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 4 May 2022.)

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (17:55): I rise to indicate that the opposition will not be supporting this bill. I acknowledge the history of debate on this topic in this chamber now spanning more than a decade. I believe the Hon. Tammy Franks previously introduced a bill on this topic back in 2011 and again in 2015. The House of Assembly also passed a resolution in 2015 on the motion of the then minister for agriculture, food and fisheries, forestry, tourism, recreation and sport, and racing, the member for Mawson, for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into and report on jumps racing in South Australia.

The select committee was chaired by the now Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing, the member for Reynell. It was an exhaustive inquiry, which included many witnesses appearing before the committee, numerous site visits and more than 1,800 submissions. The outcome was a 120-page report. The committee heard from a wide range of individuals and organisations, from veterinarians and animal welfare organisations to regional racing clubs, owners, breeders and trainers of racehorses and jumps racehorses.

It is fair to say that there was a strong and passionate response from a broad section of the community to that committee inquiry, and that passion has not waned. Opponents and supporters of jumps racing continue their passionate advocacy, which is why I think it is important to return to the findings of that committee. I quote the executive summary of the committee's finding:

The committee found that jumps racing in SA should not be banned but that its continuation should be conditional on the industry meeting the broad areas for improvement outlined in the recommendations, over the next three years.

It is clear to the committee that jumps racing presents a greater risk of injury or fatality to horses and jockeys than flat racing, with steeplechase races presenting the greatest risk. It is, however, also evident that the implementation of several measures since 2010 has made the sport safer, as evidenced by a reduction in horse fatalities in our state in recent seasons.

The recommendations on the future direction of jumps racing, and the conditions upon which it may continue, aim to address gaps in research and data collection, matters concerning transparency and accountability in industry practices, the need for safety planning and risk mitigation to direct continuous improvement objectives, and for additional duty of care measures to safeguard animal welfare.

I want to reiterate the key aspects of these findings, that there was no case to ban jumps racing and that the industry should be given time to demonstrate improvements of its own accord. The industry has demonstrated improvements of its own accord since that time.

An example is the introduction of One Fit hurdles. The One Fit design is a modified hurdle frame with a custom fitting closed-cell foam pad replacing the traditional birch. The hurdle was developed by the British Horseracing Authority's senior inspector of courses, Richard Linley, in consultation with relevant industry bodies. It has contributed to a considerable reduction in fall rates and superficial injuries in horses across the UK. Since initial trials began in the UK in June 2013, the fall rate has reduced to 1.59 per cent (which is 56 falls from 3,525 runners), which represents a reduction of 0.5 per cent compared to the 10-year average number of fallers across all hurdle designs.

The owners, breeders, trainers and riders of these horses are committed to the welfare of these horses. They are passionate about their horses and their industry and they are committed to ongoing improvements to equine health and safety. I have received correspondence from owners detailing the care that their horses receive. Indeed, as one owner noted, their horses receive more care than many other animals, with regular vet services, chiropractor, dental, farrier and rehabilitation clinic attendance to use a water treadmill to strengthen their muscles.

Those involved in jumps racing invest heavily in their horses, both emotionally and financially. They are not dismissive, ignorant or cavalier about the risks of jumps racing, but they are invested in promoting a safe and healthy sport. It is clear from the submissions to the select committee inquiry that widespread public sentiment existed for a greater duty of care to animals, particularly those involved in sports. Community attitudes and values have continued to reflect the need for adequate protections and appropriate whole-of-life animal welfare and safety standards.

Those of us on this side of the chamber, as Liberals, believe in the fundamental right to freedom of choice and freedom of the individual. We also believe in a government that minimises interference in our daily lives, and we believe in free enterprise. With that comes the ability for anyone to compete in the marketplace where it is the market that determines prices, products and services rather than government.

If the market is such that the peak industry controlling body, Racing SA, has taken steps to phase out jumps racing due to declining participation levels and horse numbers, then so be it. But the decision to hold jumps racing or not is the prerogative of that body and not one of government or this chamber. It is a decision of the industry, it is a decision of breeders, owners, trainers, riders and spectators as to whether to support, invest and promote this industry. It is the responsibility of industry to satisfy the public that it has a continuing commitment to mitigating risk and implementing best practice in all aspects of this sport.

It is the responsibility of industry to instil confidence that safety measures are prioritised and promoted. It is the responsibility of industry to create a product that attracts participants and spectators alike. It is the right and responsibility of individuals to make their choices: the choice to be a participant or the choice to be a spectator, or not. Those of us on this side of the chamber believe that whether jumps racing continues in South Australia remains a matter for the racing industry rather than legislators.

The Hon. C. BONAROS (18:02): I rise to speak on behalf of my colleague the Hon. Frank Pangallo who has carriage of this bill and who was prepared to speak on behalf of SA-Best today but unfortunately is unable to be here with us today. In October last year, Racing SA, the controlling body for racing in South Australia, announced that it would not be scheduling jumps racing in the upcoming racing calendar. It signalled the end of an era. At the time, there were fewer than 10 jumps horses in the state and whilst Racing SA acknowledged the 150-year history of jumps racing in South Australia, it also acknowledged that it was no longer a sustainable industry.

In the 2020-21 racing session, 12 jumps races were held with less than five horses per race. Trainer Richard Jolly said:

I did have jumpers but because we have no riders here it just became cost prohibitive to have to fly jockeys in to do the training and race riding.

On 12 October, trainer Tony McEvoy told the Barossa's The Leader that he supported the decision to end jumps in SA and added:

It was quite different back in the day but when all the rules changed and they lowered the jumps and started to modify them, attempting to make it safer, it made it worse in my view because horses can go faster.

These are just some of the overwhelming majority of trainers who have conceded the end of jumps in South Australia. As Tony McEvoy pointed out, there are no registered jumps jockeys in South Australia. Despite the writing on the wall, there is a very small fraternity in South Australia who continue to believe jumps racing should continue.

They will have you believe that jobs will be lost, and seek a return to the good old days—those nostalgic days when the poets Banjo Patterson and Adam Lindsay Gordon (a member of the House of Assembly in South Australia in 1865) romanticised steeplechases, the days when tens of thousands of people attended Oakbank.

I was one of them—I am talking as though I am Frank, by the way; I was not one of them—both a racegoer-cum-camper and a journalist covering the event for The News and the Sunday Mail. Such was the fascination with the race described as Australia's favourite picnic meeting that families would continue the generations-long tradition of making camp in the same spot. Even the pre-meeting trials would attract a sizeable gathering of observers. It was a time before Crows footy, dedicated racing channels and the internet—way before my time.

Those were also the days before social media images of fallen horses, the lethal green tarp being rolled out and greater animal welfare awareness. We saw some horrific race falls on live television. They are images that do not sit well with the broader community. It certainly does not make for a family-friendly spectacle. Just because it was, does not mean it always should be.

Society, including sport, has actually moved on in so many ways and areas that would not have been contemplated in years gone by. Attitudes to animal cruelty do and have changed over time due to public perceptions and more informed debate. What were once considered acceptable practices in society have been replaced by changing values and virtues. Greyhounds chasing live lures is one that comes to mind.

There was a time, while working for the afternoon paper, The News, that I recall Frances Nelson QC and John Glatz, the strongest voices to keep jumps racing, were once featured promoting live fox hunts on horseback involving hounds on private land in the Adelaide Hills, through the venerable Adelaide Hunt Club. This club, founded in 1840, would use hounds to hunt down kangaroo, emu and deer in its early days before the introduction of foxes, which are now regarded as feral pests. The British banned this so-called sport in 2005 and there was pressure put on these types of clubs elsewhere in the world to follow suit.

In an interview in 2006 with The Advertiser journalistRex Jory, Mr Glatz revealed to him that he believed there were probably 20 hunts a year still happening. He said at the time the hunt club still had hounds and often went onto his Hills property, where many foxes abounded. This is not to suggest there were pursuits or deliberate acts of live fox hunting occurring, however. Following outcries from animal welfare groups, the Adelaide Hunt Club made a wise and humane decision to stop this barbaric practice some years ago. The welfare of animals is very much in the minds of most Australians these days.

There are only two jumps trainers in South Australia and despite the significant majority of their work being on flats racing, we have moved an amendment—for the avoidance of doubt—to ensure they can continue to train horses here in South Australia, should they wish. It is to ensure a legislated ban on jumps racing will not prevent a trainer from schooling a racehorse—waking up a flats horse before race day by putting them over a few jumps in the week prior—or apply to show jumping or equestrian events and the like.

It is to ensure the passing of this bill does not prevent racing.com or Sky or TAB radio from broadcasting a jumps race held in Victoria or the UK or France or race books being printed with interstate fields. We do this out of an abundance of caution. We have further clarified and support the bill on the understanding a South Australian could legally own a Victorian jumps horse.

The Hon. Tammy Franks has made a good case for a ban on jumps racing by highlighting animal welfare concerns over many years in this place, which I do not propose to replay in great detail. Since 2009, there have been 19 reported deaths as a result of jumps racing in South Australia. In more recent times, at Oakbank's replacement meeting at Pakenham in April, where not one South Australian trainer was represented at the meeting, three horses fell and an additional four had to be retired from the race, meaning seven out of 50, or 14 per cent, of horses failed to finish. Superstar jumps horse Zed Em was quietly retired after a fall at that meeting. He is one of the lucky ones.

At the recent Warrnambool May Racing Carnival, the biggest jumps carnival in Australia where, again, not one South Australian trainer was represented in jumps events, four horses fell and an additional three had to be retired from the race, meaning seven out of 70, or 10 per cent, of horses failed to finish.

At Casterton, also in May, over four races there were 33 starters and nine, or 27 per cent, failed to finish, with one horse dangerously losing its rider and crossing the track as the remaining horses jumped a hurdle in the final stages of the race. Then there is the issue of workplace safety for jockeys. At Warrnambool, jockey Will Gordon was seriously injured by a jumps fall and was airlifted to Royal Melbourne Hospital with a fractured shoulder, punctured lung, lacerated liver and concussion.

I will just pause here to clarify that SA-Best supports the horse racing industry in South Australia. Clearly, we do not support the gambling industry. I can categorically say we do not support the gambling industry, but we support the stablehands, the trainers, the event staff and we understand it is a passion for many.

While I am no longer a punter, as an aficionado of sport I still follow major racing carnivals here and interstate and I marvel at the deeds of great racehorses like Black Caviar, Winx and the mighty Makybe Diva, and the delicate skills of jockeys, male and female. In my younger years, I co-raced and bred standardbred horses, pacers and trotters. This is not the thin edge of the wedge for us. We will not be supporting a ban on racing next.

Maybe greyhound racing is also in the sights of the Greens. They want to kill racing altogether. It is one of their policies, but it will never be allowed to happen anywhere. Horse racing is of course a global sport and we are active participants. I, for one, would be quite vocal about any moves in this direction. We all recognise the importance of this industry and the thousands of jobs it creates. It also provides enjoyment.

People who own or work with animals used in racing do love them and do care immensely for them. Can you ever imagine banning the Melbourne Cup, the Everest, the Doomben 10,000, the Blue Diamond Stakes or the Cox Plate? There would be a revolt. Do you ban motor racing just because drivers can and have been killed? No, because we have seen enormous improvements in the safety of cars and racetracks.

In the meantime, racing in this state does have its challenges and remains at the crossroads compared with racing in states like Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and WA. I hope the new Malinauskas government reviews the support for the industry here and gives it the leg up they have been crying out for, especially since Labor introduced its gambling tax where very little of the revenue that is generated finds its way back into the industry here. The sell-off of the TAB was another blow and poor privatisation decision. The industry here needs to be able to compete with interstate racing prize money and promotion and also retain jockeys, trainers and good horses to make racing a spectacle once more.

Finally, I would just like to add, if this bill does not enjoy the support of this place, I will not bring jumps racing back to South Australia. The industry itself has already spoken on jumps racing. There is a vocal minority who just will not let this rest and it is time for the parliament to put the issue to bed once and for all. With those words, SA-Best indicates its support for the bill.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (18:13): The government will finalise its position on this bill when it goes to the other place, if it passes this chamber. The government will not object to the bill passing the Legislative Council. The government notes that the racing industry has already taken the decision to remove jumps racing from its schedule, and the government will continue to consult with stakeholders in the industry and the community on the proposal.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (18:13): I remain constantly surprised by this place. I thank all members who contributed to this debate. I think it has been an unnecessarily protracted and frustrating one over many years. We are seeing the last vestiges of jumps racing supporters put up an increasingly shameful and dishonest campaign to try to stop what I think is actually inevitable.

Indeed, as I have just noted to a journalist on ABC radio, Victoria and South Australia are the only places that still run jumps racing in this nation, I have to say, simply because people want their so-called entertainment. We really must get real and recognise that the Law Society has recognised this for the cruelty that it is.

The data from this jumps season in Victoria is a sobering reminder of just how much more dangerous jumps races are compared with flat racing, even when measures are taken and introduced to make them supposedly safer. This season alone up to 8 June, there have been 11 race meetings with 39 jumps races and 56 flat races in those meetings in Victoria. While there were more flat than jumps races, 11 horses fell in jumps races while not a single one fell in the flat races.

Those safety measures certainly have not proved to be effective in Victoria. At least two jumps horses have died in jumps racing in Victoria this season, and there have been no deaths from flat races in Victoria this season. That is 11 race meetings with jumps racing and, on average, 11 falls—one fall per race per meeting, despite their safety measures being introduced.

At least 76 horses in South Australia and Victoria have died as a result of jumps race injuries between 2009 and 2021, and I say 'at least' because the death toll is believed to be much higher because the industry has not been compelled to publicly report all associated injuries and deaths. Of course, this does not even touch on how many horses fail to finish races or knuckle and stumble during jumps races. We know that these figures are not complete. Frankly, the industry does not seem that interested in true accountability and transparency.

The 2016 South Australian parliamentary Select Committee on Jumps Racing found that jumps racing is significantly more dangerous for horses and riders than flat racing. That is what it found. It produced 28 recommendations in a report that gave the sector three years—that is, until 2019, and it is now 2022—to fix the key animal welfare and transparency issues. The recommendations also found that jumps racing is significantly more dangerous for horses and riders than flat racing.

The transparency recommendations focused on increasing the data captured and ensuring that it was accessible and reported in a way that enabled further analysis, for instance, showing the link between races, injuries, deaths and final outcomes for horses after becoming what is called 'non-viable' for racing and being listed as retired. Currently, there is little information published to identify whether jumps horses that are retired are retrained, euthanised or sent to slaughter.

The recommendations also encouraged the sector to increase investment in injury prevention and treatment, horse retraining and rehoming. Unfortunately, again, there is little evidence to suggest that these recommendations have been implemented. The sector does not publish lifetime information for each horse. Injuries and deaths in training and trials are not always reported. The impact of non-fatal injuries from colliding, knuckling, etc., is rarely reported.

Horse deaths after race day are rarely counted as having resulted from a race, although they often have. There is little evidence of research into the factors that contribute to horses failing to finish races or the publication of safety action plans. There is still no requirement for injured horses that mask their injuries on race day, which is normal for prey animals, to receive follow-up vet assessments following race day.

I see no space for this industry in modern South Australia. It is well past time we joined with almost the entirety of the rest of Australia, other than Victoria, and provided certainty with regard to ending animal cruelty in this state and, for that matter, certainty to the racing industry itself. I have long said that jumps racing forms something around 1 per cent of the industry, but it certainly provides about 99 per cent of not only the bad publicity but the harm to the industry in so many ways other than just the horses. With that, I commend the bill.

The council divided on the second reading:

Ayes 9

Noes 3

Majority 6

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clauses 1 and 2 passed.

Clause 3.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: On behalf of the Hon. Mr Pangallo, I move:

Amendment No 1 [Pangallo–1]—

Page 2, after line 14 [clause 3, inserted section 14AA]—Insert:

(1a) However, nothing in subsection (1) prevents a person from—

(a) organising, promoting or participating in, or participating in organising or promoting, equestrian eventing, show jumping or a cross-country event; or

(b) jumping a horse, or requiring a person to jump a horse, over an obstacle other than in the course of a horse race; or

Example—

Training or preparation of a horse that includes jumping an obstacle.

(c) publishing the field of horses competing in jumps racing held in another state or territory, or overseas; or

(d) advertising jumps racing held in another state or territory, or allowing images or audio of such racing to be shown or heard.

I have already explained what this amendment does. I commend it to the chamber.

Amendment carried.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: For the record, I will not be moving amendments Nos 2 and 3 on behalf of the Hon. Mr Pangallo.

Clause as amended passed.

Title passed.

Bill reported with amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (18:27): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

The council divided on the third reading:

Ayes 9

Noes 3

Majority 6

Third reading thus carried; bill passed.

At 18:32 the council adjourned until Thursday 16 June 2022 at 14:15.