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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-06-04 Daily Xml
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Motions

Jumps Racing

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) (15:36): I move:

That this house establish a select committee to inquire into and report on jumps racing in South Australia, and in particular:

(a) whether or not it should be banned; and

(b) any related matters.

Yesterday, I gave notice that I intended to establish a select committee to investigate and report on jumps racing and whether it should be banned in South Australia. I come before the house to commend the motion.

As I have said on previous occasions, there is continuing community concern about this form of racing, particularly since the South Australian Jockey Club announced in 2014 that it wanted to cease jumps racing at the Morphettville Racecourse. Thoroughbred Racing SA, which is the overarching body that looks after racing in South Australia, insisted that the SAJC continue with jumps racing at Morphettville.

Before that went ahead, I said to Thoroughbred Racing SA that I thought it would have been a good idea for them to just let that happen, let the SAJC have its way and not have jumps racing down at Morphettville. They went ahead with it. It caused more community angst and discussion, so I think the best way to get to the bottom of it is to set up an inquiry, actually ask the questions and get the facts and what people think from all sides of the debate.

I know that there are somewhere between 24 and 26 jumps horses trained in South Australia. I know there are people within the racing industry who think that jumps racing has no future in South Australia or anywhere, for that matter. By the same token, I do realise that there are people with differing views, and that is why it is very important for us to establish an inquiry of this kind so that the government, the opposition and other people involved in politics can be informed.

We can give people a voice. We can let people have the opportunity to come before the committee as witnesses or to write submissions to the inquiry. I have been fortunate enough to be on some of these committees before, and I think they work in a very good way. You sit there and you listen to both sides of the arguments and then, at the end of it, you come up with a report.

When I earlier proposed that we have a joint committee, the opposition here tried to change the wording of the motion to take out the question of whether jumps racing should be banned in South Australia. There is not much point in setting up an inquiry if you do not actually have a question that needs to be answered.

The opposition claimed that there was some bias in setting up the committee and that it was all angling towards a ban on jumps racing. That is just ridiculous because the question was: should it be banned? The answer could be yes or no. It was not saying that it would be banned, it was asking should it be banned. It just showed a very sensitive underbelly of the opposition to this issue. We heard—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Yes, we have reintroduced it. That is what we want: we want an answer at the end of this process. We do not want an inquiry that does not come up with an answer to the question that many South Australians are asking themselves. When I got up to speak to that initial motion, I think I was the most balanced and fair speaker who came into this house and spoke to the motion.

Mr Gardner: Even if you say so yourself.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Well, go and check the Hansard if you have a disagreement with it. I got up and said, 'One side of the argument says this, the other side of the argument says this.' The member for Chaffey got up and said that 'this must remain a parliamentary committee that looks at the facts and is not swayed by personal opinion'. I agree wholeheartedly with that, but the member for Chaffey then basically spoke from the notes provided by Thoroughbred Racing SA about the percentages of increases, and things like this, and swayed it all one way, so he showed his bias. Then we had speaker after speaker on that side get up and show their bias towards the continuation of jumps racing.

I have a personal opinion on jumps racing: I think it is a thing of a bygone era. There are 24 to 26 horses being trained in South Australia to go over jumps. Do we really need to continue it? I do not think we do, but I did not put my hand up to be on the committee. We are going to propose three members from this side of the chamber to be on the committee, and I have no idea what their views are on jumps racing, and that is exactly the way these committees should be set up. I think any person who spoke on the opposition side with their very biased opinions about jumps racing should rule themselves out of being on the committee.

I think that would be the decent thing to do and it would concur with the statements of the member for Chaffey when he said that 'this must remain a parliamentary committee that looks at the facts and is not swayed by personal opinion'. Well, you have just ruled yourself out and a few of your colleagues have ruled themselves out on your very basis, on what you have said—that 'this should remain a parliamentary committee that looks at the fact and is not swayed by personal opinion'. Your personal opinion and the member for Mount Gambier's personal opinion, the member for Morphett's personal opinion, the member for Hammond's personal opinion—

Mr Whetstone: Everyone's got an opinion.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: —are very, very clear.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Not everyone's got an opinion.

The Hon. P. Caica: You talk about preconceived—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I'm on my feet. Sit down!

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Sit down and be quiet, all of you. Goodness gracious me, you are all on two warnings. I would not push it any further than I had to. I remind you all of 142; I remind you that you are not defying me, you are defying the Chair and bringing the house into disrepute. I ask the minister to continue his remarks—

The Hon. P. Caica interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, I don't think it's going to be a worthwhile contribution.

The Hon. P. Caica: I'm already on one warning, ma'am.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Well, I am looking at you, and you will be on two in a minute. Minister.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Thanks again, Deputy Speaker. Members of the committee should be prepared to listen and consider all evidence for and against, regardless of their personal views. Just to recap on where we are with jumps racing in South Australia, it is held at Oakbank, Morphettville, Gawler, Mount Gambier and Murray Bridge. As I mentioned before, many people within the racing industry do not think there is a future for jumps racing, so it is not a matter of people who are against jumps racing all being outside the industry; people should take that into consideration.

In 1991, a Senate inquiry concluded that serious concerns about the welfare of horses participating in jumps races were based on the significant probability of a horse suffering serious injury or even death as a result of participating in these events. The committee concluded that there is an inherent conflict between these activities and animal welfare and recommended relevant state governments should phase out jumps racing within three years. That was in 1991; it is now 2015, and nothing has been done in South Australia or Victoria, the two states where it is still legal for jumps racing to continue. I understand that the opposition want to have some time before they come back and continue the discussion on—

Mr Gardner: It was on the Notice Paper yesterday.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Yes, and we would be happy to go along with that. I look forward to the contribution of other members of the house when next we discuss this.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Gardner.

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