Wednesday, 17 June 2026

 Matthew GUY (Bulleen) (18:46): I appreciate with great sincerity that my contribution on the Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2026 probably is not going to be as profound as what the chamber has been through for the last 45 minutes, and I accept that. Sometimes you have got to know your place, and I accept that. But I will do my best to give you a bit of entertainment on the racing bill as much as I can – tears and entertainment. I do want to speak on the racing bill, not that I am a massive punter. I thought the member for Essendon actually had rather a very interesting speech – I very rarely say this and I think I am probably going to take a lot of people by surprise, but there is a first for a few things. I thought his speech was very entertaining and very worthwhile. I was hoping he would do the last 3 minutes of it because it was quite interesting, but he made a very good point. People say horseracing is the sport of kings; it is actually the sport for everyone. I have been to a few courses. I am not a massive punter. I admit to having a couple of apps on my phone, TAB and Sportsbet, mainly because my father-in-law gives me bad tips – although he thinks they are good tips. They never turn out very well, but that is him. Of course there are people from all backgrounds and all walks of life all enjoying the races.

Like a lot of members, I was taken aback – well, not surprised, I guess – at the Greens’ position on horseracing and what they think of the horseracing industry and how they feel it adds no value. I could not disagree more. Horseracing is a massive industry, and I might add, as the member for Ovens Valley said, the care and animal welfare that is displayed to horses in that industry by those trainers, strappers and everyone involved in the industry is first class. We have regulations on that front, and more to the point, the owners and those involved have every reason to ensure that those horses are in tip-top condition and looked after as well as they can be. You see it when you only go past a number of those horseracing studs, the condition which they are in – they are not run down, they are in very good order. They want to make sure those animals are in very good health, and they are. So I thought the member for Ovens Valley in particular had some very good words around how important the animal welfare issues are in this industry and how the industry is doing a very good job.

But more to the point, as the member for Essendon had said, the economic benefits of racing to our state – and of course for me, being a metropolitan MP, to Melbourne – are so important. I do not want to just talk about the Melbourne Cup – everyone will just talk about the Melbourne Cup or say things about the Melbourne Cup – but it is a driver of economic activity and a buzz that it gives our city, even if you are not a punter. It is fascinating during the Spring Racing Carnival to see so many people actually getting into watching, listening or even taking a punt, maybe just that once a year or twice a year as it might be, and getting involved in the racing industry.

That economic activity just cannot be underestimated. It certainly could not be replaced. When you think of accommodation, restaurants, cafes, transport, retail, shopping, entertainment and all the tourist attractions getting business from people who come from interstate to our state and particularly to Melbourne when they are coming down for the Spring Racing Carnival in particular, it adds a huge buzz to our city and to our economy.

Not to be overlooked, I imagine a number of regional and rural MPs will say the same thing happens for their country races. And I note the member for Gippsland East – whose tips are not too bad; he is probably the best punter in the building. There was a Nationals member, Mr Damian Drum, who was a terrible tipper, but he was a good bloke. But having said that, the member for Gippsland East will tell you that the buzz country races give to those small regional towns and to those economies is first class. Whether it might be the Bendigo Cup or the Mildura Cup, Bairnsdale, Sale, Warrnambool –

A member: Dederang.

Matthew GUY: Dederang – that is right. Yes, absolutely. Up near Wodonga. What you have is such a great buzz and such a great investment in local economies that horse racing and the racing industry bring. That should not be overlooked, and it is I think very important and very worthwhile. Whatever the issues we might have around this bill and some of the ways it got here and some of the work behind it, it is important that the racing industry, I believe, knows that they have bipartisan support in this state, and they can operate with that certainty into the future. Because it does bring so much opportunity and economic activity to regional Victoria. I mean, can you think of all the economic activity, whether it is accommodation or restaurants, in just small regional towns, such as the ones I have just mentioned, that some of those race days and race meets bring? It is enormous.

When I was the Minister for Planning, I had the opportunity to – actually I think I intervened and approved what is now the new Pakenham racecourse, actually located in Tynong, and the plans at the time were visionary. They were quite substantial. The racecourse was moving out of what was then central Pakenham, a location that was probably not fitting for a major activities area, as it was, and a developing activities area, and the club had found a new location some kilometres down the highway along the railway out in Tynong, which is a perfect example of how racing can adapt and how it can continue to provide massive economic benefit to not just regional but outer urban locations like Pakenham. When you see a race day down at that Tynong location at Pakenham races, it is massive. It is massive and it brings huge activity to some of the towns around it – to Bunyip, to the Garfield pub, to Drouin and to these areas in West Gippsland which normally would not get that level of interest or activity.

The race meets bring that into town and actually bring that level of activity into West Gippsland that normally would not be there. I think that was a great example. I was very honoured to be able to, in many ways, intervene and approve that racecourse. Now when I go back there – it is one of those things, I guess, if you have the privilege to be able to be in a ministerial position and never waste a minute you have got, and I do not believe I did; good, bad or indifferent – driving past on the old highway, as I do, because my family is from Gippsland still, and I usually take the old highway road and I drive past that racecourse and look at it and think with pride what a great opportunity that has brought for so many people. And it is not just economic, but there are jobs associated for all the young men and women involved in the racing industry who now have that new facility, which is such a great opportunity for those in racing.

I do not want to go past this bill. I know there is some mention of motorsports and the Grand Prix in the bill, and I just want to make a small reference to it, if I can, because I think this is another part of our economy which cannot be underrated. One thing I want to mention – and it is probably never really talked about – is drag racing. I know for some, drag –

Paul Edbrooke interjected.

Matthew GUY: Well, I do too, I say to the member for Frankston, the minister at the table. You know, there is such opportunity for us in Victoria, and maybe both of us can consider this, whoever wins the election – hopefully we do – after the next election, because there is still that missing piece of infrastructure in Victoria around another drag facility. I made commitments, I think it was in 2018 at the election, around this, because again, the economic opportunity – you see people driving up to Canberra. I mean, who would have thought – Canberra. It is called the Summernats – the Summernats in Canberra.

This is an opportunity for Melbourne. We have got a bigger population, and in a number of demographics this is a big deal and people are keen on it. I used to own V8s until I went on to an electric car, which really surprised my school friends.

Paul Edbrooke: Holden or Commodore?

Matthew GUY: I was a Holden V8 driver. Two VFs, if you want to know, a series 1 and a series 2. Then I went on to an electric car, which really left them stunned, but I was not going to be paying that much for fuel – and that was five years ago. That is a piece of the puzzle that is missing, and I just urge all of us to keep that in mind for those who are keen on the drag racing industry and drag racing as an interest. I know there is Calder Park and there have been other facilities, but we do have now a piece that is missing in that and I think we should all be looking at that for the future.

As I said, we do not oppose this bill, and there have been a number of good speeches beforehand that I thought have been very interesting. In particular the member for Ovens Valley presented very well, and the member for Essendon – give him credit. But I make these brief comments and commend the bill from a not-opposed position.

 Iwan WALTERS (Greenvale) (18:56): I think I will bring us home with some comments on the Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2026. This bill does speak to both motorsport and racing. I will confine my remarks, given the time, to the racing dimensions. There have been some fine speeches, as the member for Bulleen said, that have really emphasised the economic importance of the racing sector across tourism in regional Victoria and also Melbourne itself. The Spring Racing Carnival is totemic, really, on the world stage, placing Melbourne within the international glare at that period of time in the year, bringing in not only many, many people, but also the economic activity that flows from that. That international recognition is really important. The thoroughbred industry alone generates $3.2 billion of economic activity and $500 million in tax revenue to the state government. It also employs well over 30,000 people. And I am concerned when I hear the nihilistic, destructive comments of some political parties in this place, specifically the Greens, who would seek to throw that all away. They profoundly misunderstand the way in which equine welfare is at the heart of the racing industry in this state. They also, I think, have no conception of what the counterfactual would be. This is a highly regulated sector where the market participants take their obligations very seriously and where the counterfactual is not an abstract one. We can see in the context of tobacco and in the context of spiritous liquor that changes to regulation have not had the effect of curtailing activity; they have forced it onto the black market. I think the Greens political party should be very careful what they wish for in seeking to undermine the highly regulated legal racing sector in this state, which not only creates jobs but creates taxation revenue for the coffers of this place. Activity will not disappear; it will go online onto the grey, unregulated crypto casinos of the world. I think it is incredibly important that we refute the comments of the Greens leader in this place and emphasise the importance of the racing industry as a regulated sector that takes its obligations seriously.

I want to talk about the work that people like Andrew Clarke in my electorate at Living Legends play in sustaining the social licence of racing. Andrew was awarded the Order of Australia Medal last week for his leadership at Living Legends, which is the home, as members may know, to retired champion racehorses, including the Prince of Penzance, who members will remember winning the Melbourne Cup with Michelle Payne aboard her in 2015, Efficient, Twilight Payment, Almandin, Brew and of course Chautauqua. Andrew and his team recognise the importance of equine welfare at every step in the industry. He is also a former professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Melbourne and did so much in the Wyndham facility that the member for Tarneit spoke about previously. I just think it is important to call out that the participants in this industry take those obligations seriously. The social licence is incredibly important, and I commend this bill to the house.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.