Wednesday, 17 June 2026

 Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (12:08): I am delighted to rise and make a contribution on the Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2026. I am new to this portfolio. I am delighted to be part of this racing portfolio, and it is my first speaking opportunity as the Shadow Minister for Racing.

I want to put a few comments on record before we begin and remind us all that racing is an extremely important industry in our communities in our state. It is much, much more than just horses running around a track or those having a cheeky punt on a Saturday. It is about the horses, the greyhounds, the owners, the trainers, the jockeys, the feed suppliers, the fashion and the entertainment, but most of all it brings people together, and it does not matter whether you are at the harness races, the dogs or the thoroughbreds. It is also a sense of community, an opportunity for people to meet and chat and have a laugh. Picking a winner is part of the joy, but it is not the ultimate prize – thank heavens for that because rarely do I pick the winner. Hopefully in this portfolio, member for Berwick, I might be able to improve that as time goes on by studying the form guide a little more. It is about making an effort to dress up and making an effort to support others.

Racing is just as popular in the regions as it is in metropolitan Melbourne. We know the big races in Melbourne of course, the big days out: the Melbourne Cup, the Caulfield Cup, the Cox Plate. There are too many to mention, but the list is long. Victoria really is the heartbeat of the racing industry in Australia, but we have got to make sure that we continue to keep that.

Apart from the thoroughbreds, obviously the AG Hunter Cup is the big event for harness racing. Of course the world’s greatest greyhound events are here in Melbourne as well: the Sportsbet Melbourne Cup for greyhounds, the Australian Cup at the Meadows and the Phoenix, plus many, many more. All three codes play an extremely important role in Victoria’s economy. In fact the racing industry contributes $4.7 billion annually to the Victorian economy, and that turns into 35,000 full-time jobs across the state. More than 121,000 Victorians are directly employed, volunteering or participating in racing activities. As I said before about regional Victoria, not surprisingly more than 50 per cent of the economic contribution occurs in regional Victoria. That is phenomenal.

I know in my own electorate of Ovens Valley, the Dederang Cup is one of those picnic races – there are few genuine picnic races left on the calendar these days where you can drag your own esky in and you have a great day watching the horses run uphill at Dederang under the finishing post. That is a terrific event on the calendar in February in my electorate, and it is followed by the Wangaratta Cup, which is at the Wangaratta Turf Club. I know Neil Membrey as chair and Emma Merlo run a great organisation there. In fact I was out there on Sunday for one of their events. Again, it is an outstanding turf club, with a great track and plenty of trainers. Sunday was like a spring day; it was certainly a beautiful day to be racing in the middle of June. You would not have thought the weather would be as beautiful as it was, but when you live in God’s own country, it always is quite nice in Wangaratta.

As I say, there are many parts to it, but I look at the trainers, and in Wangaratta again I look locally with John Ledger, Benny Brisbourne and Dan McCarthy, to mention a few, and there are plenty of trainers. The trainers are a very important part of the economic activity around the Wangaratta Turf Club, and they would be for all clubs around Victoria. Many of us have had a small stake in a horse – well, some of us have had a small stake in a horse once or twice or three times. It is just that excitement of being part of a horse. It does not matter whether you own a hair on the mane or what it might be; it is just exciting to be part of and be involved in the racing industry. As I say, it brings people together and brings communities together. And then once you have got a small share, you have got skin in the game, you are connected, and from there on, you get to enjoy it. There are those that are more serious into horse racing and have invested heavily into it, whereas people like us have just got a small investment but get just as much fun out of that small investment. And if it turns into a profit, that is more luck than good management.

As I say, it is not just my electorate, but so many of the electorates are home to some form of racing, whether it is harness, thoroughbreds or the greyhounds. It really is an important industry, and the thoroughbred sector is by far the largest component. A study has recently found that the thoroughbred component contributes $3.2 billion and supports 25,000 full-time jobs in just the thoroughbred industry. The Victorian industry is estimated to generate more than $500 million annually in taxation revenue, so it is a good thing for the state – it is a revenue earner. I mean, it is a win-win-win. Of course we always know we need to look after those who have got a gambling problem, and there is lots of compliance around that, and we understand that and we agree with that. But we also need to make sure that those who are punting safely are generating the income, and it is important – it is a very handy income for the state government. The spring carnival, as I mentioned, is one of the largest events in Victoria. Just going back a couple of years, the Spring Racing Carnival generated $785 million in economic benefit, and the Melbourne Cup Carnival alone generated $502 million for the Victorian economy.

That is my summary on the industry itself, and certainly I will tackle a bit more of the bill now as we go forward. I am mindful that as we speak, we are still in discussions with the minister on a couple of changes to this bill.

We thought we had an agreement on a couple of issues, and I will go into those. We still plan to not oppose the bill in this house, but we may have to consider our position in the upper house as we go forward. I will go through that a little bit further.

We are supportive of the restructures of the greyhound racing industry and Harness Racing Victoria to make sure it is the same as Racing Victoria, adopting that legal structure of a company limited by guarantee. It is important that these changes take place to be in harmony with Racing Victoria and that they are made as we go forward. Changes are also being made to the Victorian Racing Tribunal, and they have been well received by the sector. We have got no opposition to correcting the prior oversight, with the amendments being made to the Australian Grands Prix Act 1994 in relation to the powers of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation regarding motorsport events – I will talk about those in a bit – and some concerns with the changes proposed to remove duplication in the racing industry, particularly regarding the proposed merger of the integrity bodies. Some of those have been addressed.

The Liberals and Nationals agree with the removal of duplication of integrity oversights but have been concerned about the funding of the new merged entity, the timing of the bill and the new structure. I will talk about the funding in more detail, on which, again, the minister has worked with us to seek a better outcome. But my understanding is that we still have a little bit of work to go. On the funding of the new merged entity, this is where our concerns lie. At this stage the Department of Justice and Community Safety contributes about $1.5 million to $1.8 million annually into racing integrity, and the industry itself contributes about $500,000 annually. So we are talking about a 25–75 per cent split.

The bill says that over a period of a couple of years this entire cost would be shifted to the industry, which we think is unacceptable. We struck an agreement to say that the industry would not be paying any more than what they currently pay. I heard just before I rose on this bill that that may not be the case. I think it is really important that we cannot have integrity bodies being totally funded by the industry, because that is like marking your own homework. You cannot have an industry that says, ‘If we’re in charge of integrity, we’ll just cut that down to $100,000 a year because it’s in our best interests or it doesn’t suit us to have a too fine a point on the integrity.’ You need to have integrity bodies completely removed from the industry, and that is why the government should be contributing. As I say, that has been about 75 per cent, and the industry contributes the other 25 per cent. We just cannot go shifting who funds that. For moral reasons and obligations and certainly for practical reasons about, as I say, marking your own homework, if you are the one who pays the bill for integrity, you can then choose to turn or dial that up or down as it suits you. We have still got some concerns there, but as I say, I think we can still work through that with the minister between houses and I will be happy to do that as we go forward.

As I said, the industry raised concerns. The industry is concerned about footing the bill. Dollars are tight in the racing industry, and we have to make sure that we are fair. As I say, it is more about the look. It is not a good look if the industry is paying that entire integrity bill and then becomes in charge of integrity. That raises a couple of concerns, the first being that the industry is already facing financial headwinds and cannot afford to assume the entire cost. Secondly, as I said before, it is not a good look that the industry is entirely funding its own integrity department. We have suggested a better approach for a structure similar to the Queensland model, where the industry makes a contribution but the integrity commission is predominantly funded by government. We will continue to pursue that between the houses over the winter break to make sure that we get the best result for the industry and the best result for everybody.

We want integrity. I will go on to say a little bit later how important integrity is to this industry. It is absolutely paramount. But again, at the same time we have got to make sure that it is done the right way and that not only do we have integrity but we are seen to have integrity as well. That is really important, because there are those who do not support this industry, and we have to make sure that we are squeaky clean when it comes to integrity.

The other part of the bill is the timing of this bill, which seemed to us to be a little bit odd. I know we have to get bills through before Parliament is prorogued later this year, but it is also important to understand there is an integrity commission report being handed down in New South Wales and due to be handed down on 30 June. Brad Hazzard is a former politician, and he has been given the job of looking into matters of integrity and proper regulation of thoroughbred racing in New South Wales. Again, if this report is handed down on 30 June, and it is there for all to see, it is an odd time to see what might come out of that integrity bill, because we are talking about the two pre-eminent racing jurisdictions: Victoria and New South Wales. It would be interesting to see what is in that. If it is handed down when it should be on 30 June without any further extensions, we might be able to roll some of those and have those discussions between houses, because we do not want to have to go and revisit this bill again somewhere down the track because something has come out of this integrity report, the Hazzard report, that we think we should be adopting here in Victoria as well. It would be a waste to then go on and have to redraft legislation if we can mould it into this legislation as we go through the upper house. So the jury is out a bit on that, and we will see what happens when this integrity report, or the Hazzard report, is handed down.

Most industry participants agree that it is beneficial to have uniformity in integrity right across the racing jurisdiction in this country. We have got jockeys who fly from one track to the other. They are in Victoria in the morning and then New South Wales in the afternoon or in Victoria today and in Sydney tomorrow. If we can try to keep integrity structures steady across particularly Victoria and New South Wales, it will certainly be beneficial to the whole industry.

On the new structure numbers, I spoke with the minister about what the numbers were in the bill as it reads. The current integrity commissioner has an office of four, the Victorian Racing Integrity Board has a nine-member panel and a CEO, 10 all up, so that is a total of 14 across the integrity agencies. This bill, prior to our discussions, suggested that that would just drop down to three people in that panel, so all up we would go from 14 down to seven in total. Although stakeholders are supportive of basic restructure, there is also concern that the state of integrity has been cut in half from that 14 down to seven. We have spoken to the industry and spoken with the minister and have proposed five, and that amendment is coming through before our eyes. I have been handed what that amendment will be, and that is:

1.   Clause 32, page 27, line 6, omit “3” and insert “5”.

2.   Clause 32, page 27, line 29, omit “3” and insert “5”.

That is changing from three board members to five board members. So again, the minister has worked with us to ensure that that takes place. I think it is a better number. It is a clearer picture when we are dropping down, as I say – still making sure that integrity is the most important component of all this.

There is a section in here on the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, and in the bill briefing we discussed that there is an oversight under the Australian Grands Prix Act 1994 regarding motorsport competitions on the day of either a Formula One GP or a MotoGP at Phillip Island. Sadly, as we all know, we are losing the MotoGP to South Australia. As a keen MotoGP supporter myself, even if Jack Miller is further down the standings at the moment, it is very sad to see the MotoGP leave the island after 28 years. We have lost another international event under this government’s watch. I was there when Wayne Gardner won his world championship, and I saw a couple of Michael Doohan’s – I think he won five all up. I do not think I saw any of Casey Stoner’s world championship wins. Again, it is a shame to see the loss of the MotoGP at Phillip Island, but this tired government has certainly failed Victorians by letting that event move interstate, and that economic activity will be dashed in places like San Remo and Phillip Island and in all the pubs and cafes that lead to the island. If I can be a little more specific, I even find in my electorate of Ovens Valley, which is 3 or 4 hours away from Phillip Island, when the MotoGP is on the bikes come down Hume, and they will peel off and they will come through Wangaratta and go over to Myrtleford and up over the top and go down through Bruthen and down to Phillip Island that way, or they will get to Benalla and they go over the Black Spur and head down through Pakenham.

It is the pubs and clubs and cafes and everything that benefit from those heading to the island. It does not matter where you are heading from, whether you are coming from Brisbane, Sydney or beyond. It is a broader community than just the Phillip Island and San Remo community that is missing out. That will be a massive loss to that community and all cafes and pubs en route to the island. If we could get that race back again in the future, it would be a significant leg-up. It is a shame to lose that.

We look at the racing calendar. From a racing perspective Peter V’landys and those from New South Wales are breathing down our neck and looking to take any opportunities that Victoria has because we are the king or the queen of the racing industry here in Victoria. We need to be careful that we do not lose races like the Moto GP, that we do not lose harness, thoroughbred or greyhound races to any other states. I will certainly be fighting tooth and nail to keep both our metropolitan Melbourne meetings intact and our regional racing in Victoria on track, because the financial success and the economic input is just so important to our smaller local communities regionally.

In harness racing there have been plenty of challenges, and we have got to work through those challenges, whether it is the sale of the land around Melton. There are certainly some expectations that we have got to keep this industry strong, and we will step through this process. I know the industry has concerns, and we have got to make sure that we get responsible management and then a clear path forward to make sure that harness racing remains strong in Victoria. We cannot afford to lose an industry like that, and we have just got to work through how we are going to achieve that.

This bill amends the eligibility criteria for appointment of a deputy chair to remove the requirement that all deputy chairs be former or current judicial officers and that each deputy chair has knowledge and experience in a specific racing code. It removes that obligation to have been a judicial officer or currently be a judicial officer.

Dylan Wight interjected.

Tim McCURDY: The member for Tarneit is very keen, trying to wind me up because he is now back. He said to make sure that I did not finish before he was back, but now he is back and he gets to listen to me for just a little bit longer.

The old saying is ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’. Well, we know what we have got in the racing industry. It is just so important to our economic communities, to our state, to regional communities, to all concerned. We know what we have got, and as Neale Daniher would have said, ‘Just don’t muck it up.’ That is what we cannot afford to do with racing industry.

We need continuous investment into the racing industry, into thorough thoroughbreds. It is in good shape, but it needs continuous work and continuous investment. We have seen in recent years a huge investment in Flemington and the redevelopment of Moonee Valley is going on as we speak. Caulfield, under the helm of Tanya Fullarton, is always striving for continuous improvement. Harness racing, as I say, needs the complete vision: it needs a strong plan, a healthy vision and financial security. I am not sure Labor has ticked all three of those boxes yet. We have to make sure that we tick all three of those – the strong plan, the healthy vision and the financial security – to make sure harness racing is secure going forward. Greyhound racing has had its ups and downs, we all know, but now it is on track, it is a consistent performer, and I am looking forward to supporting that industry.

As I say, we are not opposing this bill in this house, but we will reserve our position in the upper house pending negotiations and discussions as we go forward. We will see what the Hazzard report comes back with, and where possible or if needed we can talk about that between houses over the winter break, because it is important that we get that right. If something significant comes out of the Hazzard report, and there may not be anything and it might be just not worth worrying about, it is certainly something we should consider. Integrity in racing is what this bill is all about. We know integrity is the cornerstone of the racing industry. If you do not have integrity in the racing industry, you are heading down a slippery slope and you are putting $5 billion of economic activity at risk. It is important, you must make sure that your integrity framework is in place, because that is the cornerstone for this industry, and the industry is keen to move through this legislation.

They want to see it through as well, to get all the integrity issues tied down and tucked away before the election in November, or the Parliament’s dissolution. It is important that we do that for the industry to give them security and to understand where they are.

For those who want to see the end of the racing industry, shame on you. There are people, even some who frequent this building, who are not supporters of the racing industry, and shame on them. Local economies thrive – animal welfare is not just top of mind for this industry; it is international best practice. The greyhound, harness racing and thoroughbred industries treat their animals like royalty, and they are exceptionally well looked after. Shame on those who try to stop or slow this industry from being the economic powerhouse that it is, and shame on those who would close this great industry down if they ever got the opportunity.

On the coalition benches we have said that we are not opposing the bill in this house and will continue to negotiate in good faith between the houses. But on the whole the changes that we have suggested have been treated fairly, and we look forward to the bill going through the upper house. As I say, we have to get this right; it is paramount to the industry. On thoroughbreds, we need to keep all of our race meetings and for harness racing ensure that framework is in place. There is the rationalisation of the greyhound industry, and they will continue to need support.

But never forget the punter. The punter pays for a lot of this – half a billion dollars we heard before. They keep this industry going. We need to keep the industry sexy, competitive, uncomplicated and fair. It is really important that the racing industry, right across all three codes, is in great shape and its integrity is never questioned. With those comments, I will commend the bill to the house.

 Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (12:31): I have never heard the racing industry called sexy, but it gives me great pleasure to follow the member for Ovens Valley. Just to pick up on a couple of points that that he mentioned – and I do appreciate the bipartisan nature in which the opposition are approaching this bill, and I know this will be spoken to in more detail coming up in this debate – the government is still working with the industry on funding and on a shared funding model, particularly for the new integrity body. I believe that there will be spoken about shortly a commitment that the industry will pay no more for that integrity body than what they currently do, apart from indexation year by year, and discussions are still being held on the size of the new integrity body, and what I mean by size is how many members there are on there. That will be spoken to in this chamber at more length as this debate continues, perhaps even following this contribution.

We have to acknowledge that the racing industry in Australia in particular is an industry that must continue always to work for the social licence that it has and that it needs. In order for the racing industry to do that we need to ensure that it has the legal framework in an integrity space that it needs to be able to self-regulate as best as it should, to make sure that it can maintain that social licence. With that social licence does not just come an industry that people like me and you, Acting Speaker Walters, enjoy participating in and watching on the weekends and having a bet, with it comes $3.4 billion of economic activity in our state and 34,500 full-time equivalent jobs. And a significant number of those full-time equivalent jobs are in regional Victoria, in places where industry, frankly, has changed with the decline in regional manufacturing over the last couple of decades. We need to make sure as a government – and the industry needs to make sure as an industry – that racing keeps the social licence that it has to deliver those jobs and that economic activity in our state.

People’s livelihoods, families’ livelihoods and the food that they put on the table rely on the work that they do across the thoroughbred, harness and greyhound industries, from trainers to strappers to people working at venues and courses all around the state. It is too important for us not to get this right.

The member for Ovens Valley touched on those that would like to see the industry close. I do not care whether you like racing or not. If you do not like watching racing, that is for you. I enjoy it, but I think, frankly, it is irresponsible of people to talk about the closure of this industry and for it to be no more, considering the people’s livelihoods that rely on it in places like regional Victoria and outer suburban Melbourne, places where people typically earn less and where unemployment is higher. Why on earth would we want to put 34,500 jobs at risk? That is why we are here debating this today. I am the member for Tarneit, as everybody knows.

John Mullahy interjected.

Dylan WIGHT: I am going to go to two, member for Glen Waverley. Wyndham, the LGA that Tarneit is in, holds a special place in Victorian racing, because did you know that just about every Melbourne Cup winner for the last 15 to 20 years has come through Wyndham before it has won the great race? In Wyndham, Melbourne University run their veterinary clinic – the Werribee International Horse Centre and University of Melbourne Equine Centre, to be exact – a world-leading facility where international horses can come and can get their scans, can get their MRIs and their CTs, as they arrive in Australia to take part in our fantastic spring carnival. The member for Werribee, the member for Point Cook and I have had the great pleasure of touring that facility now on two occasions to see the fantastic work that happens. We talk about animal welfare in the industry. There is world-leading equipment there to make sure that every horse that arrives, which may still be in quarantine down at the Werribee Racing Club, can get their CT scan and make sure that they are fit to race and to make sure that they are not at risk when arriving at the racecourse and taking part in our fantastic spring carnival, which brings our city alive each October and November.

A member interjected.

Dylan WIGHT: Indeed the member for Caulfield should. Let us face it, our spring carnival races are now dominated by international riders. The vast majority of those horses that have won the Cox Plate, whether they be perhaps from Japan or from Europe, and won the Melbourne Cup or the Caulfield Cup have come through the City of Wyndham before they have gone on to win those great races. We talk about the economic contribution that this industry makes to Victoria. Wyndham plays a significant role in allowing that to happen, because a decent chunk of that economic contribution is made over Melbourne’s spring carnival. As I said, the City of Wyndham plays a significant role in that, as do Melbourne University, and they do a fantastic job.

Also in the City of Wyndham we have the Werribee Racing Club, an absolutely amazing local organisation which does more, to be fair, than just racing. I think it has about 11 meets a year now, so not as many as it did, although the Werribee Cup is still a pretty popular event for constituents in my area, sponsored by the member for Werribee and me. I think we have got the John Lister MP and Dylan Wight MP Maiden Plate at about race 2; it is an absolutely fantastic day.

It is a fantastic organisation that contributes significantly to the fabric of our community. Because it is such a large piece of land, they are able to hold festivals through times like Eid and through Ramadan as well, when they hold an enormous iftar, and Holi festival as well. They do absolutely amazing work, and of course they hold the bingo twice a week. It is a fantastic community asset, and they do absolutely everything they can to bring those festivals and to have a place where the community can gather in special times for them.

As I said at the beginning of my contribution, the racing industry is an industry that no doubt – as it should – has to continue to work to have the social licence that it needs to be able to operate in this country and indeed in this state. By making the changes that we are today, we are giving the industry the tools it needs to be able to self-regulate and operate with the utmost integrity to continue to have that social licence and continue to put $3.4 billion into the Victorian economy, both in metropolitan Melbourne and also in regional Victoria, which absolutely needs it. It provides 34,500 jobs to people in regional Victoria and to people in metropolitan Melbourne, into places like Cranbourne, into places like Werribee, into places like Bendigo and Geelong and into places like Gippsland. We will as a government continue to provide the legal framework to allow Racing Victoria and the racing industry in this state to keep its social licence and provide those jobs.

 David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (12:42): In making a contribution to the Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2026, I want to begin this contribution by saying this is just yet another example of a chaotic government that is making stuff up as they are going along. We still are unsure in terms of where we are sitting with this particular bill. We still are unsure in terms of why we are actually debating this bill, other than cost shifting and cost issues with a government. I do agree certainly with many of the members that have made contributions from both sides citing the importance of the racing industry and the contribution of racing to Victoria. That is very, very important, and certainly we should be doing everything we can to strengthen that, support that and also ensure that we look at all kinds of other elements in terms of dealing with the racing industry more generally.

But can I say that I am still unsure in terms of what the problem is that we are trying to solve here. We have racing integrity, which is really important. We have had certainly a number of issues when it comes to racing, but what the government is doing with this particular bill is asking the industry to mark its own homework – to do its own integrity or to oversight its own integrity. It reminds me a little bit of some of the corruption issues that we have had under this government. I am not for one minute suggesting that there are specific corruption issues within the racing industry per se. But if you are asking an organisation to actually run its own integrity and fund its own integrity, then one would question: where is the independence? Where is the governance? We have real issues with that on this side of the house, we have proposed changes and, again, we are none the wiser with that. Therefore it is very hard for us to support a bill when the government are unclear themselves in terms of what they have arrived at in their own position.

We also know that in New South Wales they are undertaking the Hazzard report, which is looking at the industry more generally, and that report is set to come down by the end of the month. It is very surprising that we would be rushing into some legislation now without considering the Hazzard report, which is looking at a number of issues that we have here. Because we have a government that is running around very manically trying to bring legislation to the house, it would not be surprising if we were back after the Hazzard report delivers its findings in New South Wales with more amendments and with more changes. It is a chaotic government making stuff up as they go along, and it is certainly doing nothing to provide stability to an industry that provides so much funding, so many jobs and so much economic activity to this great state.

While I am on that, can I also give a shout-out to the Melbourne Racing Club and the racecourse which I have in Caulfield – very, very important in terms of what that provides and very key in terms of what it provides. But can I say this is another example where the government talks out of both sides of its mouth, because on one side we have the Melbourne Racing Club, which is not being properly consulted about the Melbourne Football Club coming to Caulfield and how that would affect the racing industry more generally. The racing industry has suggested that the Melbourne Football Club coming to Caulfield could shut down the industry for 12 to 18 months. What does that mean for racing, which is all about economic activity and jobs, which this government proclaims is so important? Yet on the other side they are prepared to shut down one of the key racetracks in this state, at Caulfield, because they want to attract the Melbourne Football Club – mind you, with no dough; there is no money on the table. It is just so the Minister for Sport and Major Events, the member for Oakleigh, can cut a ribbon and say, ‘Look at this. We’re going to allow Melbourne Football Club to locate themselves to Caulfield,’ shutting down racing for 12 to 18 months and – here is the kicker, because my electorate knows that I have been fighting for community sport since I first came into this house – locking out the racing club for community sport, which is something we must be fighting against. I am on record saying that locals and community sport must come first, so I side absolutely with the racing club to say that, way ahead of an AFL football club coming to Caulfield, I want my local football clubs to be able to play sport first and foremost in our electorate – an electorate that has the lowest amount of open space of any place around the state. We already have basketball, football and a lot of other local community clubs that have to travel 40 minutes with their kids just to find a venue to play sport. We believe that that should happen right in the heart of Caulfield Racecourse Reserve and right where the old Aquanita stables are, which is currently being considered for the Melbourne Football Club.

I will leave that part there, because I want to take the next part to talk about the Australian Grand Prix Corporation changes, which are specific to my portfolio when it comes to major events. Again, what we have seen is a government that are so chaotic that they have moved some more amendments when it comes to the grand prix corporation, because the grand prix corporation had two jobs: one was the grand prix, one was the Moto GP. That was all running really well, and we know it was, because it was only a few months back that we had changes to the grand prix corporation to get them to do a whole lot of things. But they never thought that they would be losing the MotoGP. Why? Because they were not focused on it. They had their eye off the ball, focused on a whole range of other things. Surprise, surprise, the MotoGP has now gone to South Australia, and the grand prix corporation, which had responsibility for two jobs, has now only got one job and needs to find more stuff for its staff to be able to do. I am told that about 25 per cent of their workforce activity has now been freed up for them to look for another opportunity. Well, we all pay for that in terms of the taxpayer, and now we have got a change to the legislation before the house to give the opportunity to the grand prix corporation to go out and shop around to find other motor events to come to Phillip Island, or anywhere for that matter, because we do not know where the grand prix corporation will be running these events. Poor old Phillip Island have been left deserted in terms of a major event and what that brought to the local economy in Phillip Island – gone, finished. Who knows what will happen from that.

But in terms of the grand prix corporation, who knows what they are able to provide. We need investment. Grands prix, certainly tennis, events more generally – they are the lifeblood of our state. We are the events capital and certainly have been for so long. We need to ensure that the likes of the grand prix corporation are able to go out there and do their job and secure events. We certainly will not be fighting against the changes when it comes to the grand prix corporation changes in here more specifically. But what I do think all Victorians need to understand is this is chaotic, this is last-minute and this is catch-up, because we saw a cancellation of a major event in Victoria – an event that should have never been cancelled is now cancelled. It just says very clearly that if you do not invest, if you do not do the work, you end up losing these major events.

That is why we will make it an absolute priority. Should we be given the good fortune of coming into government after November, events will be a key element in our state. We will go out there and we will aggressively target events. We will ensure we get home-grown events and we will invest in home-grown events in Victoria, and we will not take our eye off the ball and see other events go to South Australia, Queensland or New South Wales that are up and about at the moment.

It was $600 million to cancel the Commonwealth Games. It was going to bring so much revenue and so much infrastructure, but that is gone. We now see Glasgow about to host the Commonwealth Games with Victoria funding it. We cannot fund anything else in Victoria, but we can fund the Glasgow games. We found $600 million to fund the Glasgow games, but we cannot fund anything else in this state. When you think about local footy clubs, local sporting organisations, community organisations, racing – which we are cost-shifting – that is all happening, but the government has cut a cheque to Glasgow to fund the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. What a disaster.

When everybody will be tuning in and watching our favourites – go Aussies, because we still want our Aussies to bring home gold – hopefully we get some sponsorship opportunities out of that. I doubt we will because it has just been a big donation, because the government could not manage a chook raffle. The government has not been able to manage the Commonwealth Games. This government has not been able to manage the MotoGP, and who knows what is going to follow. We certainly support the opportunity for the Grand Prix Corporation to go out there and secure more events. But when they are not funded, when they are running from hand to mouth like Visit Victoria currently are on a day-to-day proposition, no wonder we are losing major events in this state, because this is a government that has no idea what they are doing.

 Colin BROOKS (Bundoora – Minister for Industry and Advanced Manufacturing, Minister for Defence Industry, Minister for Skills and TAFE) (12:52): Under standing orders, I advise the house of house amendments to this bill and request that they be circulated. As part of the consultation on this bill, I understand some concerns were raised by those opposite about the size of the board overseeing the new Racing Integrity Commission Victoria. The original proposal was for a board of three, given the current Victorian Racing Integrity Board is made up of seven members with capacity for up to nine. Some concern was raised that this might reduce the breadth of skills in these important roles. The government thinks we can address those concerns by expanding to a board of five, while still improving the overall efficiency of integrity oversight in the Victorian racing industry.

This bill is not about cost-cutting; it is about enhancing the integrity framework in Victorian racing. The minister has demonstrated that by being prepared to engage on matters like the size of the board. While I am talking about cost, this was another issue that was raised during consultation with the shadow minister and his predecessor. We want to give a commitment here that the government has no plans now or in the future to have the racing industry controlling bodies contribute more to integrity agencies than their current contributions plus indexation.

 Tim BULL (Gippsland East) (12:53): It is a pleasure to rise and make a contribution on the Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2026, and I thank the minister at the table for circulating those amendments. I think we do have a good relationship between the two sides here – apart from the ones that sit behind us up the back there – in relation to the racing industry and I think that the government’s, I guess, ability to appease us in these discussions and make these minor changes will result in improvements. I am very, very pleased with that.

The racing industry does have its share of challenges coming up. Whilst this bill relates to issues of importance – there is no doubt about that – there is much more that lies ahead that needs addressing for our industry. As previous speakers have said, it is a fantastic industry across the three codes. It is a major employer. We talk regularly about the economic input it has into our great state, but it is just a great industry to be involved with. There are areas that will need addressing. Across the three codes we have a downturn in revenue that is putting a lot of financial pressure on the ability for some clubs and codes to exist. And we have in this state – I do not think anyone would disagree – a duplication of structure. We are addressing one of those today, but there is a great duplication right across the codes and right across some of the clubs that needs addressing.

Some of the other challenges are in harness racing. The industry needs some security from government that it will be able to realise, after it has paid back what it owes to the government, at least a large balance of the profits that come out of Melton Entertainment Park. They need to secure their financial future.

This is the one opportunity that the government is going to have to do that to allow our great harness racing industry to keep its head above water. Prize money levels are making the competition with other jurisdictions a sort of race to the top or a race to the bottom, however you want to put it, but we cannot have our owners suffering from diminishing returns in the form of prize money. The harness racing sector has gone through that, and we need to make sure that we can remain very competitive with other jurisdictions in that regard. I touched on a little earlier that we have some people in this place, and there are none of them sitting up there in the back at the moment, who I am sure are going to come in and oppose this bill, because they generally just hate racing – and we love racing. That is one of the foundational differences that we have with the Greens party and the Animal Justice Party in the upper house. They want to close everything and shut down everything that a lot of us find enjoyable and fun. They are anti-fun, and their attack on the racing industry is one example of that.

I am very, very pleased that the member for Bundoora has given that unequivocal commitment to the racing industry that while we are getting basically rid of the Victorian Racing Integrity Board and that panel will come in under the Office of the Racing Integrity Commissioner, the industry will pay no more into perpetuity above CPI. This one was a big one for the industry. With the previous shadow and with the current shadow, we have had a lot of discussions with the three codes and fought hard to secure that commitment. With the Minister for Racing at the table, we are pleased that we have been able to find that landing place, which I think will be for the betterment of the industry. It will be for the betterment of the industry for two reasons. The first one is – and I have spoken about some of the headwinds that the industry is facing – they cannot afford to then cop in one, two or three years time the additional cost of funding the racing integrity commissioner, which I believe is about $1.8 million annually from the bill briefing that we had. We cannot put that additional impost onto the sector. But probably more important than that – and the member for Tarneit touched on this – we cannot have the industry funding its own integrity arm. Racing is one of those sectors that history will tell you has its share of challenges, and different issues pop up from different times, and we need to have an integrity arm that does sit slightly separate from the body it is overseeing. That is why it is important for the government of the day to predominantly fund that arm. The industry can make a contribution; they already do make a contribution of about half a million dollars to fund the Victorian Racing Integrity Board, which is getting merged into the racing integrity commissioner’s office, and the industry in our discussions have said they are more than happy to continue to make that contribution, but they do not want to be lumped with the whole lot. I think that that is a fair and reasonable outcome, and it is great to get that commitment from the member for Bundoora, obviously, via the racing minister, to have that, so I am very, very pleased with that.

The shadow minister and indeed the member for Caulfield touched on the fact that we have this Hazzard report pending, and that is an inquiry that has been conducted in New South Wales by a former long-term MP by the name of Brad Hazzard. One of his terms of reference is to look at the integrity structures in New South Wales. I will stand here and say that our integrity structures in Victoria are better than New South Wales, as we stand here now, and that is probably why they are having an inquiry, because it has not been quite up to speed, but it will be interesting to see what comes out of that. That report is due to be handed down by 30 June. Whether it is then or a bit later time will tell, but we have that commitment, which I think the member for Tarneit read into his second-reading speech, that any recommendations that may pertain to integrity issues in the Victorian sector will be considered between houses, because after this week we go to the midyear break.

Sitting suspended 1:00 pm until 2:02 pm.

Business interrupted under standing orders.