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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-12-02 Daily Xml
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STEEPLECHASE AND HURDLE RACING

The Hon. M. PARNELL (22:41): I seek leave to amend my proposed motion as follows:

In the first paragraph, replace the number 20 with the number 27.

Leave granted; proposed motion amended.

The Hon. M. PARNELL (22:40): I move:

That this council—

1. Notes with alarm the death of 13 horses in the 2009 jumps racing season in South Australia and Victoria and 27 deaths over the last two years;

2. Notes that in 2009, one in 20 jumps horses were killed and that jumps racing kills horses at 20 times the rate of flat racing;

3. Congratulates Racing Victoria for its decision to ban jumps racing from the end of 2010;

4. Notes that South Australia will soon be the only place in Australia where this cruel and inhumane sport is permitted;

5. Calls on Thoroughbred Racing SA to follow the lead of Racing Victoria and ban jumps racing; and

6. Calls on the state government to introduce legislation to ban jumps racing in the event that Thoroughbred Racing SA fails to act.

This motion basically calls on the state government and Thoroughbred Racing SA to make sure that the cruel practice of jumps racing is brought to an end in South Australia as quickly as possible. South Australia is the only place left in the country where this cruel sport is allowed to continue.

For members' benefit, jumps racing is the racing of horses over obstacles, hurdles and ditches. Jumps racing is typically run over longer distances than flat horse races and the jockeys are heavier. There are two types of jumps races conducted in South Australia and Victoria, for the time being at least, and they are hurdles and steeplechase events. The hurdle event is run over a distance between 3 and 3.5 kilometres, while the steeplechase is run over a slightly longer distance, usually between 3.5 and 5.5 kilometres.

Victoria and South Australia are the last two remaining states in Australia to continue with jumps racing, with all other states having abandoned the sport. After 2010, unless we do something about it, South Australia will be the only place where the sport is allowed. The RSPCA has been an avid campaigner against jumps racing for three decades. The reason is the horrific injury rate to horses and the unacceptably high number of deaths that result from jumps racing. These injuries and deaths occur each and every jumps season. The RSPCA has never wavered in its opposition to the sport.

The Victorian racing authorities made the decision in the past week or so to ban jumps racing in Victoria. They made that decision following a concerted community campaign which included the RSPCA but also a range of other community groups. The media release put out by the RSPCA's national body said that it was 'elated' at the news that jumps racing would be banned in Victoria from 2011. Its press release states:

The RSPCA has worked for 30 long years to have the cruel 'sport' of jumps racing banned and today's decision is a huge relief for all involved and most importantly, a tremendous win for horse welfare.

The RSPCA's Australian President, Lynne Bradshaw, said:

It's simply unacceptable to put horses at this kind of risk in the name of sport and entertainment. While we would prefer that the 2010 season did not go ahead, we are pleased that the Board of Racing Victoria has recognised the overwhelming public disapproval of jumps racing.

The release concludes:

The RSPCA urges the South Australian Government and Thoroughbred Racing South Australia to follow suit and ban jumps racing in that state too.

I mentioned that the RSPCA has been working on this for three decades, but even 18 years ago the Senate inquired into animal welfare and it expressed serious concerns about jumps racing way back in 1991. The committee's report stated:

...the Committee has serious concerns about the welfare of horses participating in jump races. These concerns are based on the significant probability of a horse suffering serious injury or even death as a result of participating in these events and, in particular, steeplechasing.

The committee concluded that there was an inherent conflict between animal welfare and jumps racing which could not be eliminated by improvement to jumps or racetracks. As a result, the committee concluded that state government should phase out jumps racing over a three year period—that is, three years from 1991. The New South Wales government banned jumps racing in 1997 and, as I said, racing authorities in Victoria have just announced that 2010 will be their last season.

Some more figures and information about jumps racing: in 2009, one in 20 jumps horses was killed and one in five jumps horses fell—the worst rate of fall and injury in 35 years—so the efforts of the industry to make the sport safer have failed. Jumps racing kills horses at 20 times the rate of flat racing. One of the arguments raised by people who seek to keep this activity going is the economic argument, and they talk about the trainers and the jockeys who will be put out of work or disadvantaged.

The truth is that, of the 120 jumps trainers in 2008, 108 were considered to be hobby trainers, who were not training enough horses to earn a living, and the remaining 12 had both flat and jumps horses. Of the 108 hobby trainers, 72 trained only one horse, so it is really nonsensical to claim that there will be massive job losses when the industry is finally and inevitably shut down.

In terms of the rates of injury and death, three in four jumps horses are not seen in the following year; those horses are presumed to have died, or been injured and no longer able to earn a living for their owners, and end up at the knackery. The argument is also often put that jumps racing prolongs the life of jumps horses and actually keeps them from being taken to the knackery, yet the evidence is that it may only delay that inevitability for a very short period of time.

At the end of the day, this is an industry, an economic activity, and the horses are not put out to pasture—whether it is at the end of their jumps racing or flat racing career. They end up being put to death anyway, so members should not be attracted to arguments by the industry that keeping jumps racing going is a career-extending move for these horses or somehow good for them. Clearly, it is not.

Even racing supporters do not support jumps racing, and that is clearly evident through both opinion polls and the wagers made with betting agencies. In terms of opinion polls, racing's own newspaper, The Winning Post, recorded an 84 per cent agreement for high-weight flat racing to replace jumps racing. In terms of punters, an average of $2.50 is wagered for every dollar of prize money put up in jumps races, in contrast to normal flat racing, where $10 is wagered for every dollar of prize money.

Quite rightly, I think, opponents of jumps racing describe the industry here as the laughing stock of the racing industry in Australia. With its economic viability, and the fact that Victoria has now closed its industry, I believe it is inevitable that South Australia will follow suit. Even if one does not accept the cruelty arguments, it is simply not viable. In fact, they were the very comments made by the Victorian racing authorities, who decided to close the industry, rather than have it wither on the vine. With those brief remarks, I urge all honourable members to support the motion.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins.

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