Thursday, 23 February 2023

Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022

Second reading

Debate resumed on motion of Lizzie Blandthorn:

That the bill be now read a second time.

Jacinta ERMACORA (Western Victoria) (14:25): I am pleased to speak in support of the Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022. The main purpose of this bill proposed today is to ensure the safety and welfare of all patrons and racing industry workers and, importantly, the horses at all race meetings and official trial meetings across the state. The bill will not alter who is authorised to enter restricted areas or what they are authorised to do. It will not impact on the experience and enjoyment of the public attending race meetings.

The Victorian racing industry has enormous size and scope, which has a vast impact across our state. There is a race meeting held on every day of the week in Australia. These changes are needed because in recent years there have been a small number of instances of unauthorised entry to the restricted areas of a racetrack during race meetings. These incidents are not frequent; however, they have the potential to be gravely dangerous, with consequences which could result in the serious injury or death of horses or workers. I fully support the right of those who disagree with racing to peacefully protest, as does the racing industry.

This bill simply seeks to make sure that safety is paramount and that a safe workplace is provided for all workers in the racing industry. The offences relate to the disruption of a race meeting or official trial meeting, throwing or kicking projectiles or otherwise causing projectiles to enter into a restricted racing area and climbing on fences or barricades that are adjacent to the restricted area. The latter activity could lead to animals reacting unpredictably, creating a risk of injury for persons near the area – and in the case of the horseracing industry, the horses. It could also result in patrons inadvertently entering a racetrack area, endangering themselves or animals and disrupting races. These new statutory offences and related penalties will provide a clear and strong deterrent to persons who are not authorised to access certain areas of the racecourse from engaging in dangerous and disruptive conduct. The Victorian racing industry is fully supportive of the bill. The new offence and penalty provisions will enable racing clubs and the racing code bodies to provide clear warnings to patrons about the consequences of dangerous and antisocial behaviour at the races in restricted areas.

It is interesting to note that across Victoria there are 128 racing clubs and 108 racetracks. A review prepared by IER for the racing industry in April 2022 has published a wealth of data on the size and scope of the Victorian racing industry. More than 121,000 people are directly employed or volunteer in racing-related employment in the state of Victoria. In this state there are approximately 3857 breeders; 3369 trainers; 83,404 owners and syndicate members; and 898 jockeys, drivers and apprentices. There are 5399 stablehands and kennel employees, 7489 racing club staff and 8525 volunteers. Jockeys, trainers, officials, veterinarians and indeed all racing industry employees have the right to be safe at work.

Animal safety will also be improved through the further security this bill provides. While some may assume a difference of position on involvement in horseracing, I believe we all agree that the safety of horses and their welfare and wellbeing should have primacy within the racing industry. The overwhelming majority of people who work with horses love them and care for them responsibly and professionally. As a horserider myself when I was young, I know and understand what it is to have a relationship with your horse, to understand the personality of your horse and what he or she enjoys and dislikes and to meet those challenges together.

The Andrews Labor government already has a track record – pardon the pun; I am sure I am not the first – of improving safety at racecourses across the state. A great example of this is the upgrade of the grass training track at the Warrnambool Racecourse. Warrnambool Racing Club chair at the time Steven Waterhouse said that:

We’re very grateful for the Government’s support to significantly enhance our training track ensuring greater access for horses, and really appreciate that our ambulance track is now in top order.

The Andrews government is committed to supporting the racing industry and is invested in safe workplaces with the racing amendment bill, also responding to feedback and safety concerns from the racing industry. Racing Victoria CEO Andrew Jones said on the importance of the bill that Racing Victoria worked closely with the Victorian government to develop this important initiative, which will strengthen safety standards across the three codes of racing in Victoria.

As outlined in the bill there are eight races covered under the Major Events Act 2009, those being at Caulfield Racecourse on Caulfield Cup Day, Caulfield Guineas Day and Thousand Guineas Day; Flemington Racecourse on a day that a race meeting of the Melbourne Cup Carnival takes place; and Moonee Valley Racecourse on Cox Plate Day. These eight are indeed major; however, as has been shown by the data I have already outlined, there are many other races around Victoria throughout the year which would absolutely qualify as very significant due to the number of patrons and participants who attend.

I could not stand here today without mentioning the May Racing Carnival hosted by the Warrnambool Racing Club, of which I am a member. The Warrnambool Racing Club has 2100 members, which is the largest country membership base in Victoria and possibly in Australia. The Victorian racing industry report states that 637 full-time equivalent jobs are located in Warrnambool and the south-west region. No doubt two-thirds of those are likely to be located in Warrnambool. I know the Warrnambool Racing Club has 15 full-time employees supplemented by a part-time workforce and an enormous 300-plus casual workforce for race days, including the carnival.

Race days and events in Warrnambool are supported by many skilled local contractors – electrical, sound specialists, catering, logistics, security and emergency services. It is an amazing time in Warrnambool, when national and international trainers and jockeys join over 30,000 racing enthusiasts for the three-day carnival. The carnival was established as one of Australia’s hallmark country racing events. As the Warrnambool Racing Club is proud to point out, this celebration of country racing is famously held midweek on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It features 23 flat races and seven jumps races, including the internationally acclaimed Grand Annual steeplechase, first held in 1872. It remains the longest and most celebrated of its kind in Australia.

I love the races and have always enjoyed supporting and attending the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival. In particular the May Racing Carnival in Warrnambool is a marker in the yearly lives of the citizens of Warrnambool, so much so that the Warrnambool City Council made the first day of the May Racing Carnival, the day of the Grand Annual, a public holiday so that people in the city and the region beyond could attend the event. It brings an enormous buzz into the town as thousands of people make the carnival their own annual event. The effect this has on local businesses, from accommodation to restaurants and pubs to hairdressers, beauty therapists, florists, milliners and clothing outlets simply cannot be underestimated. It offers a huge economic boost just prior to the quieter winter months.

I absolutely respect the right of people to lawfully and respectfully protest against races; however, this new bill provides protection from the few that do not respect the rules and cause safety concerns for horses and racing industry workers. The main purpose of this bill is to ensure the safety and welfare of all patrons and participants, including the animals, at all race meetings and official trial meetings across the state. Safety after all is what this government is all about when it comes to the workplace. I think it is highly important that all industries – including the racing industry, which hosts a significant number of strappers and stablehands, who are in some regards vulnerable workers, sometimes in and out of the workforce – ensure that their workplace is a safe workplace and that workers can confidently go about their business without fear of invasion into restricted areas unlawfully. Those that even consider doing this will now be subject to the enforcement required under this new bill. The new crowd management offences and penalties prohibit unauthorised access to restricted areas on Victorian racecourses, prohibit other dangerous and disruptive behaviour in or near restricted areas and provide for enforcement for the new provisions.

This is a very, very important piece of legislation that I support completely, and I would like to close by saying just how wonderful it is to see horses training on the beach at Warrnambool. It is a beautiful scene in Warrnambool in the first week of May, which I believe is now budget week, so I am probably going to be fairly disappointed and will not be able to attend. But nonetheless it is a spectacular week in Warrnambool, and I endorse this legislation.

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (14:39): I am very pleased to be able to rise and speak to the Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022. This piece of legislation that has come into the house that we are debating this afternoon is an important piece of legislation. It is one that the Liberals and Nationals totally support. We think that this is a good change to protect the racing industry. I know that the Shadow Minister for Racing Tim Bull in the other place has done a tremendous amount of work for the racing industry over many years. He has got a very strong interest in it and has consulted wide and far on this. He made a few very good points in his speech around the enormous economic benefits that racing provides and brings to this state. Of course as Victorians we are all only too aware of the Melbourne Cup, even though our –

Melina Bath: It stops the nation.

Georgie CROZIER: It stops the nation, but those up in the northern state of New South Wales would like to see that they take that mantle with their new race, the Everest. I attended the race meetings in Sydney on many occasions over Easter and it has been tremendous fun, like I have here in the spring carnival.

This bill does a number of things. It prohibits unauthorised access to certain areas of racecourses during race meetings and official trial meetings. It prohibits certain disruptive conduct during race meetings and official trials and then provides enforcement of these provisions. This is important because over recent years we have seen some unnecessary disruption to racecourses, and that can be incredibly dangerous. I think we are all aware of instances where people have gone onto the tracks, and this can be not only dangerous for those horses but also those riders and the people that are associated with looking after the race meet and caring for those animals.

What is important is that this legislation sort of comes in line. These provisions already exist in the Major Events Act 2009, which has crowd management provisions. Those major events that are particularly pertinent here, around racing of course, include some of the feature races of Victoria’s race meetings during the spring carnival: Caulfield Racecourse on Caulfield Cup Day, Caulfield Guineas Day and Thousand Guineas Day; Flemington Racecourse on a day, as I have mentioned already, of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, and that includes of course Cup Day, Oaks Day, Derby Day and Stakes Day; and Moonee Valley Racecourse on Cox Plate Day.

I have mentioned Caulfield, and I do so because Caulfield Racecourse is in my electorate of Southern Metropolitan Region, and it has those tremendous race meetings. It is an extraordinary piece of infrastructure, if you like, that is in the heart of Melbourne or not too far from the heart of Melbourne, where you have got this wonderful racecourse that is there. The City of Glen Eira, where the racecourse is, has the least open space of anywhere in Melbourne. Over many years my colleague David Southwick, the member for Caulfield, has spoken about the need for more open space, looking to open up Caulfield Racecourse to allow greater access for residents to utilise that space on non-race-meeting days. This is entirely sensible. I want to make these points because this is still a very big issue.

While I am on it, I just want to mention something. If you have gone to Caulfield Racecourse, you will know what I am talking about. There is, as in any racecourse, a massive area in the centre. It is used for certain activities, and the racecourse itself is often used by people as a running track. There is one person that I would like to make mention of, because I had actually heard about him running barefoot around Caulfield, and I actually saw him when I was attending, by chance, a meeting at Caulfield. I looked out and I said –

Melina Bath: He was off and racing, was he?

Georgie CROZIER: He was running. It was Frank Vincent, the former Supreme Court judge, who was tremendous in assisting me and this Parliament in doing the work we did on the child abuse inquiry and the Betrayal of Trust report. Frank Vincent runs – well, he did up until a few years ago – barefoot around the Caulfield Racecourse. It was just tremendous to see because well into his 80s he was running marathons. It is just quite an extraordinary story. I digress tremendously, but I wanted to make that point because of the lack of space. This is what residents are doing and using Caulfield for.

David Southwick, as I have mentioned, in 2016 called for a new trust to oversee the racecourse and worked on a bipartisan review to make that happen. That was a true bipartisan effort, and David did an extraordinary job in working with all parties – the local council, the government, obviously the racing industry and the Melbourne Racing Club I think it was at the time – and looking at having a land management plan that could then actually work in favour of all concerned, the racing industry but also the residents, and enable the council to have that land management plan. As I said, it would then enable outdoor sporting fields for local clubs; a walking, running and cycling trail around the perimeter of the reserve; a nature park with upgrades to the existing wetlands and improved biodiversity; and a net zero renewable energy hub to power local schools, clubs and community centres. That is what we were talking about – to enable this piece of infrastructure and resource in the heart of Caulfield and to have those local residents enjoy it. It was not just for the racing industry, it was more broadly targeted.

Last year we said we would put $30 million in. Well, what has happened now – and I have to make this point – is that the trust that has overseen this body of work has been left in limbo by the Andrews government. They do not know what is happening, and the money that has been provided is not going to be provided for too many more months I understand. The money will run out in less than a year, so that is a massive issue that I know Mr Southwick is following up, and rightly so, because of the important work that we have achieved so far and what actually needs to be done.

But back to the important elements of this bill, which has very sensible provisions in it. In saying that, there are some issues around the authorised officers and there is some concern in relation to how that will be enforced, and I will be asking the government about that in the committee stage in terms of who will be enforcing the penalties and looking after any people that do break the law in relation to going onto a racecourse or disrupting races.

It is a vital industry for this state. Racing contributes more than $4.3 billion to the Victorian economy, and don’t we need all the help we can get. The Victorian economy is suffering under the Andrews government, with rising debt that is only getting bigger by the day, and it will not be going down with interest rates rising and cost-of-living pressures that are absolutely hitting every single Victorian. We know this government is addicted to taxes, but I am calling on the government for no more taxes. We just cannot afford any more taxes. We need incentives in this state, not tax, and that is why this industry is so vital. It makes a significant contribution. It is responsible for more than 34,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the industry, and those jobs are incredibly important because they spread right across the state. It is not just at the racecourse, it is also those trainers – and I know you all know, certainly in the Western District, those wonderful trainers in your part of the world who do a tremendous job and have had great success in winning major events in the racing world. They employ people locally, and the money that comes in is incredibly important for those local communities. Those 34,000 are, as I said, supported by more than 120,000 people who are directly involved in the industry. That is a very significant number of people who are involved in this industry.

We need to be doing what we can to protect the industry, and sensible provisions like this that are coming in to further protect the industry I think are warranted, and I do support the government in their endeavours to strengthen the industry and provide ongoing support so that the industry can remain strong and viable in this state.

Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (14:50): The government and the racing industry will likely tell you that this bill is about safety. We have heard it throughout this debate already. But let me be abundantly clear: this bill is nothing more than an attempt to hide the shameful cruelty that is rife within Victoria’s racing industry. Every single day on Victorian racetracks, whether it be greyhounds or horses, there are unspeakable things happening. Most of the time we only know about it because of whistleblowers that are exposing it. This bill seeks to limit the ways in which they are able to do so by creating unauthorised areas of access.

Our state’s racing industries already operate under a veil of secrecy and self-regulation, and instead of acting to address this cruelty, this dreadful bill just attempts to further cover it up. The government can frame this any way that they want to, but it is nothing more than a gag for racing animals. If the industry was genuinely concerned for horse and greyhound welfare, they would have ended jumps racing and the whip and implemented a retirement plan to stop the animals they claim to love so much ending up in slaughterhouses, knackeries and mass graves. They would act on the unacceptable amount of track deaths of both horses and dogs. But instead, in the interest of keeping this declining industry happy, they seek to gag those trying to highlight the truth even further. Most of us only know when a horse dies in the Melbourne Cup, a day when the whole country – even the world – is paying attention, but it actually happens more often than once every three days on Australian racetracks. For greyhounds the death rate is even worse. So far this year eight gentle dogs have been killed in the pursuit of gambling profits in this state. We have the shameful title of the most deadly and dangerous state for racing dogs, and the statistics only continue to worsen.

It is probably important for me to say that under what this bill proposes I myself would be branded a criminal. My history opposing Victorian racing spans back over a decade now. It was my first introduction to animal activism, and I have filmed inside areas of racecourses that would be considered unauthorised under this bill. I posed no risk to the horses. In fact I was there because I cared about making their lives better, and that is something that this government would do themselves if they genuinely cared for animal welfare. I have filmed at the Melbourne Cup, at country racetracks and even racehorses in their final moments inside a Victorian knackery, disposed of like trash when they were no longer useful. This was all done legally at the time. Many others have done the same as me. This footage was used as a catalyst to hold the industry to account, implement some changes, acknowledge their problems and attempt, although ineffectively, to address them. It should not be up to volunteers to hold one of the richest industries in this country to account, and yet this bill only seeks to limit the ways in which they can. I know through this work that the real threat to racing animals in Victoria is not compassionate Victorians that have a camera in their hand. It is the routine, standard industry practices that go on every single day that the industry and government are hell-bent on hiding instead of addressing. We should be focusing on those issues instead, and that is why I will be voting against this bill today.

John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (14:54): I commend my colleague in the other place Mr Anthony Carbines, Minister for Police and Minister for Racing, for his remarkable ability in combining portfolios in these areas. This bill is a no-brainer, and I hope to show the house that they would see me in that light as well. This bill amends the Racing Act 1958 to provide for offences and penalties for unauthorised access to certain parts of the racecourse and for disruptive conduct at Victorian race meetings and official trial meetings. The bill specifically amends the act to (a) prohibit unauthorised access to restricted areas of racecourses during race meetings and official trial meetings, (b) prohibit certain disruptive conduct during race meetings and official trial meetings and (c) provide for the enforcement of those new offences.

There are many reasons but, if the President can indulge me, I want to share some of my personal experiences. I have had the pleasure of attending many race meetings right across our state, whether it is at Moonee Valley in the inner north or Seymour in northern Victoria. I have had the pleasure of attending and enjoying those great events that our fantastic industry puts on, but I want to give an example. I attended Emirates Stakes Day some years ago, and it was an experience, but a lot of patrons at Flemington that day were inebriated, and dangerously so. This not only puts them at risk, but it also puts other patrons at risk. Most importantly, it puts jockeys and horses at risk. That is why we are making these changes. Make no mistake; that is the reason. We must provide an avenue to ensure the safety and welfare of all patrons and participants, including animals, right across Victoria.

I have the pleasure of contributing to this debate by placing on record the IER report, Size and Scope of the Victorian Racing Industry. The racing industry in Victoria generates $4.7 billion for the Victorian economy yearly. It helps sustain 34,900 full-time equivalent roles for our communities. In inner Melbourne thoroughbred racing generates $1.86 million for the Victorian economy and sustains almost 13,500 full-time equivalent jobs. And in outer Melbourne thoroughbred racing generates $863 million for the Victorian economy and helps sustain over 6600 full-time equivalent jobs.

I do not forget the regions. In the Latrobe Valley-Gippsland region thoroughbred racing generates $89.1 million and over 700 full-time equivalent jobs. That is right, Minister Shing – a massive boon for your community. And I would like to say to the gentleman, my friend and member for Eastern Victoria Mr McIntosh how good harness racing is. In the Latrobe Valley harness racing generates $7.3 million for the Victorian economy and 56 full-time equivalent roles for the region. And greyhound racing is massive. In fact the Latrobe Valley industry is the largest industry of all in Victoria, sustaining 487 full-time equivalent roles in the region. And how about Warrnambool and the south-west, Ms Ermacora? Well, I will let those opposite know. Greyhound racing contributes $14.5 million to the Victorian economy and helps sustain 114 full-time jobs in the region. And Minister Tierney, it gets better. Thoroughbred racing in your region contributes $78.6 million to the Victorian economy – how good is that – and over 600 full-time jobs, and do not forget harness racing raising $19.1 million and 148 full-time jobs in the economy.

I remember my time fondly at the racecourse in Seymour in northern Victoria. I spent a lot of time in this neck of the woods as a teenager. I know the importance of the racing industry to the economy, the culture and the community of northern Victoria. My parents’ farm was in the Goulburn Valley between Yea and Seymour, so we used to frequent the races. So I am confident that the proud constituents of this region would join me in celebrating the contribution thoroughbred racing makes to the region – over 500 full-time equivalent jobs. That is $63.2 million in economic benefit to the region. But who could be surprised when counted among the many daughters of the region is the legendary Black Caviar. The winner of countless group 1 races and undefeated in 25 races, this foal of Nagambie, born of greatness, was someone about whom the legendary football and racing commentator Bruce McAvaney once said, ‘I would say Black Caviar is clearly number one and always will be the best sprinter.’ So I am sure the Attorney-General and fantastic representative of the region Minister Jaclyn Symes will join me in celebrating the contribution that harness racing makes to the region, including $40 million for the Victorian economy and 310 full-time equivalent jobs for the region. And lest we forget the contribution that greyhound racing makes to the community: $13.9 million dollars and 108 full-time equivalent jobs – it is a big deal.

An area I know well is Geelong. The thoroughbred racing industry in the Geelong region generates $90.9 million for the Victorian economy and helps sustain almost 700 full-time equivalent jobs in the region. I am sure my friends in the other place the member for Bellarine Alison Marchant and the member for Geelong Christine Couzens will join me in celebrating this. And how about the greyhound racing industry? That is $30.5 million for the Victorian economy, helping sustain 230 full-time equivalent jobs in the region. In harness racing I am sure my friends in the other place the member for South Barwon Darren Cheeseman and the member for Lara Ella George will join me in celebrating the $12.4 million and 93 full-time equivalent jobs that harness racing contributes to that community.

In my region in inner Melbourne the entire racing industry generates $3.5 billion for the Victorian economy, and that helps contribute to the almost 16,000 full-time equivalent jobs in that local area. The Melbourne Racing Club, or MRC, is based at Caulfield Racecourse in my very own Southern Metro Region and operates three racecourses: Caulfield, Sandown and Mornington. The Melbourne Racing Club contributes over $460 million to the Victorian economy every year, the majority being in my own electorate of Southern Metro. That includes $152 million in direct value-adding, and it directly supports nearly 2000 jobs including trainers, jockeys, track riders and barrier and stable workers. On the cultural, societal and entertainment benefits, we cannot forget that more than 2 million Victorians attend the MRC venues each year, including 650,000 attendees at non-race events, demonstrating the club’s ability to engage with people in the local community. The club’s activities also generate over $65 million in tax revenue for the government, something I am sure my friend from South-Eastern Metro David Limbrick would find an issue, but it contributes to our Big Build and our ability to make things matter. What a contribution racing makes to the area – something I am sure my good colleague in this region Mr Batchelor would agree on.

Let us talk about unauthorised access to restricted areas. Clause 1 sets out the purpose of the bill and makes it very clear in the opening line that this is what it is all about. What do we mean by unauthorised access? I know all about unauthorised access, having worked in airports for decades, first as a baggage handler and then as a union organiser and union official. At airports its purpose is to keep people who have the potential or the capacity away from the ability to disrupt aircraft movements and the general safety of airline workers. This is not just about protecting passengers and aircraft movement, it is about ensuring workers remain safe given that there are multiple entries and exits, not just the terminal gates. So I say to those opposite and the crossbench: be very careful with how you vote on this matter. You will be judged on your capacity to stand up for workers’ security and safety and their rights of work. Equally the wharf area of ports has the same unauthorised access section, the ports precinct. This is designed to ensure that the people who work in the area are the only ones in there. This prevents anybody else from entering the site, and it is designed to ensure the workplace can function properly without dysfunction and ensure worker safety.

Let us level the playing field. Given the amount of people who are connected to thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing, they need to be protected in their work environment, and this amendment will ensure that. Even in our own Parliament House we have a restricted area, because we do not want to have unauthorised people who have the capacity to cause disruption that is not consistent with civilised behaviour. I say to those in this room who are undecided on this amendment that if you are happy with the protections awarded for you as a parliamentarian, there is no difference for the hardworking men and women – and do not even forget the working animals – who get up every day to contribute to this economy and who deserve the same rights and protections at work.

In recent years there have been, unfortunately, repeated incidents of unauthorised access to racetrack areas during the running of horseraces at Victorian racecourses – and make no mistake, the potential for damage is unacceptable. It could result in serious injury or death to spectators, human and animal participants and officials. The reality for most Victorian racing industry race meetings is that most tickets are sold with a condition of entry. While this can provide an event manager with the ability to remove unruly spectators, it is simply not enough. It does not provide a sufficient level of protection and, troublingly, it is not an effective deterrent of dangerous and antisocial behaviour. In fact civil actions for trespass and nuisance brought by the racing club or anyone else who manages the racetrack can eventually lead to an award of damages, but it is costly, protracted and not always pursued.

There are many gaps in the law. The Major Events Act 2009 includes crowd management provisions that provide for offences and penalties at events deemed major, but that is only applicable to eight races. We need to do more. These new statutory offences and penalties will provide a clear, strong and bold deterrent to people who may seek to disrupt or cause harm. These laws will not affect patrons’ enjoyment of the day. They can still have a beer, enjoy a yarn and have a party. It changes the areas of the racecourse that you can access, and that is simple. Racegoers are already prohibited from entering restricted areas; the bill will just formalise this in legislation and allow enforcement. Let the record state that these new offences of unauthorised entry into a restricted racing area during a race meeting or official trial meeting without reasonable excuse make sense: a straightforward 10 penalty units. During a race meeting or official trial meeting while in a restricted area without reasonable excuse: 60 penalty units – no-brainer. Throwing or kicking a projectile into or within a restricted racing area without reasonable excuse: 20 penalty units. Causing any object to fly into or land within a restricted racing area without reasonable excuse: 20 penalty units. Climbing on a fence, barrier or barricade of a restricted area without reasonable excuse – just go around to the rock climbing joint, honestly, if you want to get your energy out. Just get rid of these clowns and make sure that they do not find themselves in these areas. The new offences and penalties are consistent with the offences and penalties that apply to other major sporting events in the Major Events Act – again, a no-brainer.

This will not surprise anyone, but Minister Carbines – as an excellent Minister for Police and Minister for Racing – and his team have been thorough with the community consultation and in ensuring all voices are heard. This bill has been through consultation with the Department of Justice and Community Safety, particularly the justice policy and legislation team, the police policy and strategic team and the fines and enforcement services team. We have consulted Racing Victoria, Harness Racing Victoria and Greyhound Racing Victoria. Let us get it done.

Let me clear something up so there are no excuses. I want everyone to hear this. This bill will not prevent protesters at race meetings. I do believe in the right to free assembly, the right to free speech, the right to freedom of association and the right to freedom of expression. How could I not as a former secretary of a branch of the Transport Workers Union? But I also recognise there must be protection for workers and the public. Free expression does not mean you have the right to endanger others. Protesters will still be able to get access to open areas and publicly engage in protest activity provided they do not under any circumstances engage in any antisocial behaviour or actions that would constitute an offence.

In conclusion, we are going to communicate these new laws to the public. Racing Victoria, Greyhound Racing Victoria and Harness Racing Victoria will work with their respective metropolitan country racing clubs so people know. Victoria Police will have the primary responsibility for enforcing the laws, but when needed, stewards or chief stewards with the experience, skills and know-how can be appointed as an authorised officer.

Jeff BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (15:09): I will be supporting this bill, fairly obviously, but I am just going to go through a couple of quotes that I heard whilst I was listening: ‘the protests are not frequent’, ‘the safety of workers and horses’, ‘safety, after all, is what this government is about’, ‘for the workers’ and I would not call it an ultimatum but ‘we will be judged for our commitments to workers’ safety’. That is all good and fine. Like everyone else, people can protest. I am not interested in people that want to do the ratbag thing and go from here to there and get in people’s way and put themselves and/or animals and other people at risk, but there seems to be a very tiered approach to this whole protest thing. Everyone that has been listening to me for the last couple of weeks knows where I am going to go with this: the government has no tolerance for this and is doing something about it, yet the government is allowing people to stand within 10 metres of someone with a loaded shotgun. Last term I tried to get that fixed, from 10 to 30 metres. Sadly, I got COVID and could not be here to fight the good fight and it took a dive.

There just seems to be a whole lot of concern for this and that when it comes to racing but not other stuff. When it comes to people’s opposition to these things, if you do not like racing, do not go to the racing; if you do not like duck hunting, do not go duck hunting; if you do not like all this stuff, do not do it. As long as it is done in a respectful and controlled manner, that is fine. But I just get the feeling that the government is taking a piecemeal approach to this. If you want to stop protesters from going into dangerous areas, then stop protesters from going into dangerous areas. I want it on the record that if someone ever gets killed while they are protesting at duck hunting, it should never be the duck hunter’s problem. It should never be their fault. To a large degree I think the government will be culpable because it can fix it. Even what I suggested was not about stopping them from being on the wetlands, it was about moving them to at least a distance where they have got a chance to survive.

The racing thing, I personally am not into it. I can honestly say – I have given it a good bit of thought while I have been sitting here – I have never been to a race meeting. My grandad owned a racehorse; that was as close as we got. It does not interest me in the least, but I do appreciate and want people to be able to go and enjoy it. Now, if people want to protest, be at the front, be somewhere useful, do something, but do not go to where it is dangerous. Do not go to where you are putting yourself in danger, because what that will do is actually make someone else have to go and drag you out. What that means is all of a sudden not only is the protester in danger, the person trying to remove them is in danger, and the potential is there.

One of the big issues is people seem to think that all animals are pets. We see that in the farming thing. I know that the animal rights people are very much against farmed animals. They seem to think that they have names and houses and live a life and go to school or whatever, but they do not. They are livestock. Greyhounds are livestock. I am a dog lover, but a greyhound is not a pet. A racehorse is not a pet, and we need to be remembering that. Obviously whatever I say here is not going to convince any of the people that have the propensity to go and protest in the manner that we are trying to stop, but there are some realities of the world, and I think these tend to get lost in the translation from time to time. I see a lot of people protesting racehorses and duck hunting, but I am not seeing a lot out the front of the Chinese embassy protesting what is happening to the Uighurs, not seeing anything out the front of the Russian embassy about what is happening in the Ukraine. Yes, we need to look after animal welfare, not rights –

Bev McArthur: Not saving the brumbies, either.

Jeff BOURMAN: Yes, and I do not see anything about saving the brumbies – exactly. Thank you for the interjection, Mrs McArthur. There are a lot of humans that need to be saved. There are a lot of humans that are in dire need, and I think we need to look at our own back fence before we get too excited about worrying about racehorses. As long as, if they are injured, they are put down humanely – assuming they cannot be treated by a vet – then that is fair. I will be supporting this bill, but I really think the government needs to take a wider look at the whole protesting and danger thing before someone gets hurt.

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (15:15): Thank you, Acting President Berger, and welcome to your role today. I am sure we will all be gentle on you. I am very pleased to rise today to speak on and support, as a National Party MP, the Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022. Indeed it has actually been driven largely by the racing fraternity and the thoroughbred industry as a whole as they want to make sure that there is logic around the protection of animals, jockeys and also the public, the punters. It is about safety as a whole. I have often been engaged in many a good conversation with my dear friend the Shadow Minister for Racing and member for Gippsland East Tim Bull, who has an extensive knowledge of the racing industry, an extensive friendship within the racing industry and not one but multiple parts of ownership in racehorses and a passion for it. He also has a passion for the wellbeing of animals and the responsible nature of the Victorian racing industry and indeed also greyhound racing and harness racing. I will go into the importance of the racing industry in our regions and for our economy.

Let us look specifically at the bill. The bill takes provisions that exist for the Spring Racing Carnival for track and exclusion zones and that exist for the eight major racecourses and race meets and broadens them out to the entirety of the Victorian racing fraternity for race meetings and official meetings. It is important, as I said, that we protect the animals, horses, jockeys, track riders, the punters and the people that go to enjoy these races; prohibit the disruptive behaviour during these meetings; and provide assurity around the enforcement of these provisions. Now, we only have laws for a very small number of people. The majority of the population do the right thing and would not even dream of being disruptive at a race meet or a track meet and either injure themselves or potentially the animals to inhibit the ongoing nature of the race day.

There can be people who enjoy the race meets far too much and end up inebriated and lose their sense of self and sense of mind and stumble onto the track, but there are also persons, protesters, who feel it is their right as a means of demonstration to actually jump onto the track or go into the stalls or a variety of areas to actually disrupt the races, and as we have just heard before they feel that they have the right to photograph or interact with the horses. Now, this is not on. It is not an appropriate way to protest. I fully support people’s right to protest, but I do not support people’s right to potentially injure or endanger the lives of these great animals or anybody else. It can happen and indeed it is very serious when it does.

In terms of the background to this bill, the Major Events Act 2009 contains those crowd management provisions in the thoroughbred region, but as I said, it only looks at the Melbourne spring carnival. This broadens it. It sets out standards of behaviour in certain locations adjacent to mounting yards and on the racecourses as well, and it relates to various behaviours – throwing or kicking projectiles into restricted areas or climbing the fences or barricades adjacent to the restricted racing area. This bill is certainly required, and it really needs to be there as a deterrent with those protections.

As I said, the racing fraternity has really harnessed our interest and driven this bill. There was some questioning around the authorised officers and having police officers come and enforce this. We know that police officers are needed in a variety of ways across our great state but making them stand beside a racecourse for a country race meet is not necessarily the best use of their time, so I can see from this bill that you can have race stewards become those authorised officers to be able to ensure that those safety provisions are there. Often stewards, particularly in the country fraternity, can be volunteers, and being able to provide them with the training, the skills and the capabilities – but also not having a cost impost on them – is important. So the government through this bill will need to work with the industry to make sure that those stewards are able to be those authorised officers to take that hand. They have a busy role. Anybody who goes to a country race meet will certainly know that stewards on any given day lose weight over the day because they are constantly running around to ensure that all is well in the operation of that race meet.

If you have been to a country race event, you will know what a fantastic day out it is, and you will know the significance, as an economic driver, of our racing industry as a whole. I have talked about thoroughbreds, and this bill specifically looks at the thoroughbred region, but the harness industry and greyhounds are also important to our regional towns. The Victorian racing industry is worth – and this is in a relatively recent report – a bit over $4.3 billion to the Victorian economy, with 33,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Those jobs can certainly be in a variety of areas. We have jockeys, trainers, stablehands and track riders. Also associated are the vets, the veterinary industry, to support the health and wellbeing of the horses, from foals through into their racing career and then post. We have associated suppliers with stockfeed and the like, and the very important area around just keeping up those country race meets and other meets as well.

Indeed from my experience the country racing clubs have an amazing role in terms of supporting community sporting organisations and community clubs. I know that quite often the local football club will be the car parking attendants, or it might be the local Rotary club or Lions who will actually run the car parking there. They will certainly also monitor the gate and support catering – and I have been to some fantastic ones, which I will speak of soon. The local caterers do the most amazing job, showcasing produce from their local area, the quality; it really adds to the value of tourism and adds to the overall standing of Gippsland or the Eastern Victoria Region in my patch. The money can then go back into the community. Those caterers employ young people to come on board as casuals and really make those days an enhanced experience. Over 120,000 people are directly involved in the industry – and I have touched on some of those – but also those part-timers as well.

When we look at some of the most wonderful racing experiences you can have in my patch in Eastern Victoria Region, we know the Pakenham races are really strong in the industry. Certainly some of the cream that go on to those group 1 races are out there at Pakenham. The Drouin races are also a great experience. The Moe Cup – there is a trainer out there called Manny Gelagotis, and he has trained some really great winners out there. The passion that the trainers have for their steeds is very commendable. They read a different language and at a higher level than those of us who are not actually in that space, and we can appreciate the work they do.

The Latrobe Valley Racing Club in Traralgon is just a great club. I think the previous speaker spoke about 480 full-time equivalent persons working in that area at Traralgon at Glenview Park. Indeed Frank Bezzina is the president and manager of the LV club. He is a passionate guy. He was talking to me recently about the importance of regional race clubs working together, and that is particularly what he thinks is the very strength of the Gippsland clubs – they promote each other; they plan out the calendar of events so that they can really complement each other and people can move through the different days and enjoy them. He also said that only recently the Asian Racing Conference was on. Part of that conference – and he said people came from everywhere – spoke about the opportunities to embrace diversity in our race meets and in our clubs. That is about not only encouraging everybody to come and enjoy – families, singles and the works – but accessibility in that diversity. In his case in Traralgon they are still looking to get a lift to get up to the second floor where the major club event occurs, but in other smaller clubs it is ramps for accessibility. So really, hats off to the Gippsland racing fraternity.

Also let me cover off on a few more – the Sale Turf Club is fantastic. The CEO Brad Evans will unashamedly plug his club as the best country racecourse in the state. I think he may be a tad biased, but I will back Brad because with 18 race events a year he certainly keeps a very busy club and keeps a quality track. Congratulations to him. The Bairnsdale club and the cup there – Patties Foods sponsor that. It is again a great one. The Woolamai races in Bass Coast are fantastic. If you want to come out, it is often a hot day in summer when those race meet events occur. The picnic races – let us have a quick chat about picnic races. There are the Omeo races, Buchan and Gelantipy, Tambo River and one close to my home, the Stony Creek Cup. I just want to highlight the Stony Creek Cup as being an example of how the whole range of different community organisations and traders can get involved. A shout-out to Judy Stone, who has been a long-time supporter and sponsor of fashions on the field. Sometimes we can go, ‘Oh, this is so last century or so last month’ or the like, but when I go and talk to people in terms of fashions on the field I hear the lovely experience that everybody in the community has, such as the primary school teacher from Mirboo North. Everybody comes down and enjoys celebrating all things fashion. Local milliners have a turn to show their experience, show their flair and show their creativity, and the fashion houses can enjoy that, as well as accommodation and tourism.

So I highly endorse this bill. Country racing and the racing fraternity as a whole is an extremely important and professional industry, and I think that is one thing that my colleague Tim Bull presses upon us to understand. The racing industry should always aim for the highest quality in terms of professional standards and in terms of animal welfare. I think we have seen that evolve over time and I am sure we will continue to make sure that that standard is raised and kept across all of our race meets. I want this bill to go through because we want it to be safer for humans and safer for animals, and we want to say, ‘In actual fact this is not an appropriate way’ to those very few but entitled people who think that they can jump on and disrupt racing services and racing events. I hope this has a speedy passage through the house.

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (15:29): Acting President Berger, I think it is my first time addressing you in the chair, so it is very good to see you there. It very much suits you. I also rise to speak on the Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022, and I rise to speak in favour of it. There have been very notable instances of unauthorised entry into a racetrack area across Victoria during, in particular, horseraces. The frequency of this thankfully remains low in relative terms. Thankfully a disastrous event has not occurred yet due to these recent instances. However, there is a very real potential for these events to result in the injury of patrons and, even worse, human and animal participants. So this bill sets out to address this possibility, which will become an eventuality if the frequency of unauthorised accesses onto these racetracks continues to increase, as it has been recently.

The Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022 amends the Racing Act 1958 to provide for offences and penalties for unauthorised access to restricted areas on Victorian racecourses and for other dangerous or disruptive conduct at race meetings and official trials. The bill will help to maintain the safety and welfare of everyone at these races: the patrons, the participants and especially the horses. Health and safety should not be put at risk by reckless and dangerous behaviour such as someone running onto the track. Racing Victoria, Harness Racing Victoria and Greyhound Racing Victoria will be empowered to work with clubs to ensure the new arrangements are communicated at all events. And to pick up on Ms Bath’s comments, I am sure the government will be providing appropriate support to those groups to do so.

The new offences will include, firstly, unauthorised entry into a restricted racing area, disrupting a race meeting or official trial meeting whilst in a restricted racing area, throwing or kicking a projectile into or within a restricted racing area, causing an object to fly into or land in a restricted racing area and climbing on a fence or barricade separating a restricted racing area from a non-restricted area. Of course a defence of reasonable excuse will apply in respect of these new offences, covering situations such as potentially retrieving a child from the track or responding to another emergency.

Bev McArthur: Bad parenting, that.

Michael GALEA: Well, I agree. I would hope no children would be running on the track in the first place, Mrs McArthur, but it is good to have those provisions just in case. Restricted racing areas reflect the operational arrangements already in place at Victorian racecourses for event management and health and safety purposes. These areas include racing and training tracks and other areas used by racing animals and their handlers, including parade rings and stabling and kennelling facilities, and pathways connecting restricted racing areas. Restricted racing areas relate to places that, if someone were to access them with a disruptive or reckless intent, could result in a situation where the injury of a person or animal is a very high possibility.

I think it is also important to reflect that there is nothing particularly new about these sorts of restrictions. As others have already noted, we do already have a number of penalty provisions consistent with this bill through the Major Events Act 2009. This bill simply seeks to extend those provisions to all races and official trial meetings in Victoria. I think that is an important thing to touch on as well with the Major Events Act. I had perhaps the misfortune of attending one of my favourite sporting events, which is normally the Melbourne Derby, in December last year, and disgracefully a number of people ran onto the pitch. As a proud Melbourne Victory supporter I would like to unreservedly condemn those people who did that. I was about to say, ‘They weren’t activists, they were’ – and then use unparliamentary language. I will refrain from saying that. But that is an example too, and in that situation it is arguably even riskier in a racetrack environment because you also have very large animals, horses. Now, I am not a fan of horseracing myself. I know many people are.

Members interjecting.

Michael GALEA: I’m sorry. You were with me until then. I know, I know.

A member: You’ve lost the crowd.

Michael GALEA: I’ve lost you all. But I know many here are, and I also know many good people who have looked after rescue racehorses well. And having seen these beautiful animals, they can be very flighty. They do have different senses to humans or indeed other hunting-type animals. They do tend to be a bit more active and can be a bit more unpredictable, so it is an even more dangerous thing in racing to have this happen. I do believe there are, as others have said, eight race meets that are already covered by the Major Events Act 2009. But as Ms Ermacora my colleague says, not a day goes by in this state without a race meet, so this is very important to extend those provisions to cover that as well.

Several incidents have occurred over the past few years at events not covered by the Major Events Act, including at places such as Moonee Valley and Penshurst and also in my own electorate in Cranbourne. So given the dangerous nature of this type of behaviour in the racing context, which, as I say, is particularly pronounced when compared with other sports, all racing clubs do need to be able to utilise the additional deterrents of significant fines and potential venue bans. The bill provides for enforcement of these provisions by authorised officers, including of course police officers but also other suitably qualified persons appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Justice and Community Safety. Police, as we know, will be present at large events, especially those already covered under existing legislation. But at many smaller events police are often not present, as Ms Bath referred to as well. In these instances there are provisions for racing stewards to be appointed and to act as authorised officers. Considering the role that racing stewards play in upholding race rules and that some stewards act as authorised officers for animal welfare legislation, this is a logical provision included with full consultation with the industry.

Those found guilty of breaching the offences would be subject to fines. There are also circumstances where that person would be, very appropriately, subject to a ban order. Courts would of course take into account several factors when considering the imposition of such an order, with discretion for the court to consider if there was an intent to cause significant injury or pose that risk and if there existed actual endangerment of the public, animals or other participants. The court may also take into account when considering such a ban whether the individual is known to be a repeat offender; the nature of the offence; whether the offence endangered the public, industry participants, officials or animals; whether the offender is likely to reoffend; and also whether the offender is likely to disrupt future race meetings.

I know – and others have very powerfully put this too – there is concern from some regarding the effect this will have on the ability of people to protest, but I do wish to emphasise that protests will not be banned. Protesters will still be able to access areas open to the public and will be fully able to engage in protests. What this bill does is prohibit any individual – for example, an intoxicated person or a person with reckless or malicious intent – from throwing or kicking projectiles or causing objects to be within a restricted racing area during a race meeting or an official trial meeting. The bill also restricts a person, including a protester or any other individual without a reasonable excuse, from climbing a fence, barrier or barricade within a restricted racing area during a race meeting or an official trial meeting. Restricting these actions is not restricting protests. Fences and barriers are not there as climbing equipment for the amusement of patrons, after all. I will reiterate, because it is worth mentioning, that there are reasonable excuses that act as defences for engaging in activity that is otherwise an offence under the provisions included in this bill. Situations, as I say, such as retrieving a child or responding to an emergency may constitute a reasonable excuse, as of course they should.

The opponents and critics of this bill do attempt to conflate the bill with the objections that they have to the racing industry in general, but this bill is aimed at ensuring the safety of animals and all persons.

Enver Erdogan: It is an animal welfare bill.

Michael GALEA: It absolutely is, Mr Erdogan. This is not a debate on the merits or otherwise of racing. I do note there are passionate views on both sides of that debate, but this is not that debate. As noted previously, the bill does not seek to ban protests. The restricted areas that the provisions relate to are those that are already restricted by racing clubs and event managers for health and safety purposes. This bill pertains to unauthorised access – whether it is a drunken person, a patron or someone maliciously or carelessly attempting to access the course for their amusement – and the careless or intentionally reckless acts that could lead to injury to the riders, horses or other persons. Now, I would urge members who are considering opposing this bill, with the perception that it will inhibit protest action against a sport that they find morally objectionable, to please consider the intent of this bill. Reckless and dangerous behaviour that could lead to a horse, rider or other person being injured or even losing their life is utterly objectionable whether it is caused by someone protesting horseracing or protesting something unrelated or the actions of someone not engaging in a protest whatsoever. This bill will strengthen the safety of people and horses during racing events. That is why the provisions within this bill are important.

It is a serious matter. In the debate on this bill in the other place last year I believe it was the member for Brunswick who expressed his belief that the bill was drafted and tabled as a procedural trick. He said:

… I wonder if the bill will even return next year or whether it has just been presented as a time-waster to prevent Parliament from discussing non-government business on the notice paper.

Well, this is a very serious bill, and that it is exactly why we are here debating it today. Briefly, whilst as I said I am not in any way particularly a fan of the racing industry, I do acknowledge that there are significant –

Bev McArthur: There’s always time. Come along.

Michael GALEA: Well, I am more than happy to give it a go with you, Bev. We’ll see where we go. I look forward to it.

In addition, it is important to note the need to improve safety. It is also important to note that the racing industry does contribute significantly to the economy. You, Acting President Berger, have already referred to many ways in which racing does contribute to the state economy. I also believe, Ms Bath, you made a number of comments, particularly in relation to Gippsland. The industry does generate $4.7 billion in economic activity for our state’s economy, and it helps us to sustain 34,900 full-time equivalent jobs locally, which does include in my electorate those at very large popular venues in Cranbourne and in Springvale.

The report into the industry in 2022 by IER found almost 148,000 total jobs and participants are supported by Victorian racing, including direct participants, employees and those employed in support industries. The IER report also demonstrates the community and social benefits that racing generates in local communities, especially small communities across Victoria. Over 650 community and not-for-profit organisations share racing club facilities in this state. Furthermore, 1200 charitable organisations are also supported by the racing industry.

In my electorate, track invasion during a horserace is not a hypothetical nor a distant memory. It is a recent and real occurrence and something members of my community do not want to see repeated. In January 2020 a man jumped the fence during a meet at the Cranbourne Racecourse. He ran out onto the racecourse during the last race on a Friday night. His actions of course put his own life at risk but also the lives of the jockeys and the horses. A security guard had to jump the fence, putting himself at risk, and he tackled the man. A second perpetrator then ran onto the course and broke them up, allowing the first man to run even further up the track, causing even more potential injuries. I do want to make note: that security guard did not go to work that day with the expectation that he was going to be maimed or killed or trampled. He went to work, as thousands and thousands and millions of Victorians go to work each and every day, expecting to come home safely to his family. It is completely unacceptable that he or she was put in the position to break up that fight, putting their own safety at risk.

Sorry, it does make me quite angry to note that, because no Victorian worker should ever have to go into work with that expectation, whether you are in emergency services, whether you are a security officer, whether you are a member of Parliament or anything else. That person then had a very traumatic experience. Thankfully they were not physically harmed as a result, but no security officer, no police officer, should ever have to deal with that. We have some amazing emergency services personnel who do that every single day, but this was not necessary. Those two men rightfully received lifetime bans. But actions like this are exactly what this bill seeks to address at every racing event should this happen in the future.

The Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022 will improve safety at race events. Considering the increased unauthorised access that has been occurring in recent years, I do commend this bill to the house.

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (15:44): I rise to speak on the Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022, which amends the Racing Act 1958 to limit access to restricted areas of racecourses during horseraces and trial meets. It introduces four new offences for interfering with restricted areas, including entering or remaining in the area or disrupting a race meeting. The stated intent of this bill is to prevent people from entering restricted areas where horses frequent to ensure their own safety, but as soon as this bill came up it was hard not to wonder if the unstated intention of the bill was also to quash protest at race meets across our state. Indeed we have heard that as much as confirmed in the debate today.

Many in the community are rightly concerned about the welfare of racehorses. The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses has found that in the year from 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022 at least 139 horses were killed on Australian racetracks. Thirty-seven of those were here in Victoria. Injuries incurred by racehorses include heart attacks; fractured shoulders, femurs, tibias and knees; and head trauma. No animal should have to endure this suffering for the entertainment of a few. Horseracing is an industry centred on gambling and the continued profiteering off the degradation and mistreatment of horses, and it is why the Greens have repeatedly called for the government to bring an end to this form of animal cruelty in our state.

We also know that interest in horseracing is at all-time lows. Recent polls show interest in events like Melbourne Cup Day are declining, with 45 per cent of those surveyed believing it promotes unhealthy gambling behaviour and a third saying it normalises animal cruelty. But this government continues to funnel millions of dollars into an industry that the Victorian community have made clear they no longer want and are no longer interested in. Why this government chooses to protect this dying industry further with this bill is a serious question of principles and priorities. This decline in the popularity of horseracing is due to many in our community waking up to the fact that animal cruelty and gambling harm just is not that much fun and also due to the tireless work of many advocates and groups over an extensive period of time, and I pay tribute to that work. Protests held at race meets, including the Nup to the Cup campaign, have been successful at highlighting the problems with this industry, and here comes this bill.

It is not hard to see how activists attempting to shine a light on the darkest places in this industry will not get caught up in the enforcement and application of provisions within this bill. It is part of a pattern from this Andrews Labor government. We have seen similar laws introduced by this government to quash the right to protest in a bid to avoid scrutiny of native logging activities as well as the agriculture industry with the passing of the Livestock Management Amendment (Animal Activism) Bill 2021. The Greens opposed both those bills. We believe that the right to peaceful protest is at the heart of our democracy.

Melina Bath: Shame.

Katherine COPSEY: ‘Shame’ that peaceful protest is at the heart of our democracy, I hear from those opposite.

Now obviously those with deep pockets can use their power and access to bend regulations in their favour, and we have spent days in this house this week discussing yet another example of this, with the house having to push for a proper investigation to get to the bottom of whether special treatment for the Victoria Racing Club and the Flemington Racecourse has further exacerbated a climate-fuelled disaster for that local community. For everyday people, peaceful protest can sometimes be the only tool available to bring these matters to attention and to create change, but given this bill’s threat to this vital and fundamental right and the continuous special protection this bill gives to a dying and unwanted industry, the Greens will not be supporting this bill.

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (15:48): Thank you, Acting President Berger, and congratulations on your elevation to the chair. I look forward to working with you and Ms Terpstra in making sure we keep this house in order, so that will be good. Now, full disclosure: I am a horse lover.

Members interjecting.

Bev McARTHUR: Are you two listening?

Enver Erdogan interjected.

Bev McARTHUR: Thank you, Mr Erdogan. But I have got news for Ms Purcell – that animal welfare is not a part-time job. She should be here all the time listening to this. If she is really concerned about horses, she should be here listening to this debate. So newsflash: you need to be on the job. Now, I am a horse lover and up until recently – quite a long way from recently – I was a horserider. I had to ride Betsy to school. Very naughty Betsy used to jump out of the pony paddock and gallop home, and I was left to walk, fending off the plovers and magpies who wanted to peck you on the way home – never mind about the Greens pecking us. The plovers and the magpies were terrible. But anyway –

Samantha Ratnam interjected.

Bev McARTHUR: Dr Ratnam, it is lovely to have you here, even temporarily.

This is a great piece of legislation, and I have also got news for you people who think your rights have been prohibited, because in the statement of compatibility it does say – and this has all been well and truly gone into by the experts – that:

While prohibiting persons from entering certain areas may interfere with their freedom of movement, it is doubtful as to whether the right would extend to protect unfettered access to a racing area on a premises, where an occupier is otherwise able to exercise their property right to exclude entry.

You have not been totally locked out. We are just making sure you do not cause injury, you people – that you do not cause injury to the workers, to the public and most of all to the magnificent animals that are horses.

I have got to make a confession here: I do have to look out in the paddock, when I am sometimes at home, on those wonderful, retired animals that did not quite make it. There are always future champions in the paddock, though; there are lots of future champions. They do not usually make it either, but they are there. And for those of you who do not know anything about horses, I am here to tell you that they can break a leg just walking around in the paddock. They do not have to be on a racecourse, but if you have not ever had anything to do with horses and you do not understand them and you think the only place they are going to be injured is on a racetrack, I have got news for you: you need to get with what really happens if you are involved in horsing. I do not understand you people. I have been trying to save the brumbies, as some of you would have known if you were here before. For the new people –

A member interjected.

Bev McARTHUR: You have heard about it even though you have not been here for a while. That is fantastic; the news has got out. But I have not been able to really get the Greens and the Animal Justice Party on board with this. They seem to be quite silent when it comes to these horses being shot, you know, not even with a tent around them, as happens on the racecourse, but out there from an aeroplane and whatever. That seems to be okay – a sniper being used to shoot animals from a great height – but I do not know where you are on this. You like the eradication of the horses from the High Country, and you are obviously quite happy for them to be shot. You are all over the place, really – all you people.

But look, there are 66 country racing clubs all over Victoria. They are a very important part of the community, and together they contribute more than $750 million to the Victorian economy each year. In Western Victoria Region, that glorious place where I am from – you are all welcome to come down there one day and get out of the tram tracks, you people – there are 27 clubs holding meetings at 23 racetracks. Country racing contributes about half of the economic benefit of racing to the state, no less. Country racing does this, and about half of the country racing benefit is from Western Victoria Region – a very important region it is. It is most important. We have one-eighth of the state’s electorates and nearly a quarter of the economic benefit of racing to the state of Victoria, so how good is that? Ms Ermacora mentioned the great Warrnambool races, the May carnival, and a very magnificent event it is. I think the date of Parliament needs to be changed because we can never get there. We have got to stop meeting in Parliament so we can get to the May races in Warrnambool.

Evan Mulholland: They shouldn’t have scratched regional Parliament.

Bev McARTHUR: We will have it down there for the May races! I think we should have regional Parliament down there in Warrnambool for the May races. That would be a very good idea, don’t you think?

I do not know whether those people opposing this ever dream, because racing is all about dreams and passions, you know? You have got to have a dream about something – poring over pedigrees to determine which genes might produce just that right cross to breed a Melbourne Cup winner or casting an eye over the yearlings to see which might run early. Owners invest small fortunes in this, and everybody has a go. From extremely wealthy people to people that own just a hair of the tail, really, everybody wants to have a bit of a go at getting a winner. In fact my husband’s family –

Oh, Ms Purcell! Thank you very much for coming back in. It is fantastic to see you here. I know how you care about horses and whatever – brumbies too; I will get you onto that. Now, my husband’s family bred the very gallant mare Chicquita. In fact she is buried on our property, and she won the Victorian Racing Club Oaks, came second in the Melbourne Cup and is immortalised by the Chicquita lodge stables at Flemington. I cannot understand why you would think it would be acceptable for anybody to enter a racetrack – no matter what your views are on anything – and cause potentially huge injury to a horse. They are flighty animals. I do not know whether you ride, Ms Purcell –

Georgie Purcell: I was state champion.

Bev McARTHUR: Oh, state champion! That is fantastic. Which racecourse were you on for that? Anyway, I will leave Ms Purcell’s championship efforts to another speech. Please inform us. But it is incredibly dangerous. Can you imagine jumping over the fence – some people do it naked, I am told – and potentially injuring not only the horse but causing problems for the spectators, the jockeys and the strappers. And what are you doing going into the stabling area? For heaven’s sake, there is a biosecurity problem as well. You could bring some vegan germs or something in there. Like, we cannot be spreading diseases for the animals. Let alone the cannabis party, I hope they are not trying to give them a bit of a shot. We totally need to restrict access by unauthorised persons. I am sorry about that, Ms Purcell, but you will have to just stay out at the front gate somewhere, because it is just not on.

We have got the stewards and not enough police, but I can tell you out in the country we really value our local race meets. Warrnambool’s carnival brings in $14 million – just the carnival alone on those three days. At Apsley, that club was founded in 1855, no less. You know, you want to shut this down. You hate history as well, you people. It is the oldest surviving club in Victoria. When did this place start?

Nicholas McGowan: 1855.

Bev McARTHUR: 1855. It is as old as this place. Should we shut this place down too? I think we need to cancel all history! Burrumbeet has just one meeting a year on New Year’s Day. And Camperdown, with its most iconic, historic grandstand, one of the most famous in Australia – why are you going, Mr Erdogan? It only has one meeting a year, but I am going to invite all these people. I do not want the protesters – sorry, you are not getting an invitation – but everybody else who votes for this bill can get an invite to come to the Camperdown meeting in January. We have got umbrellas. You can bring your own food, but you have got to buy the grog because we need the money. You will have a fantastic day. I will win you over. You will be a race enthusiast in no time, my colleague over the other side. And Dunkeld – has anybody ever been to Dunkeld? That fabulous racetrack at the foot of the Grampians is just spectacular, and that racetrack is used during the year for other events like polo.

And talking about polo, somebody said that there is no retirement plan. I am here to tell you: there is a fantastic retirement plan for retired racehorses. They go into the polo world, they go into the three-day eventing world, they go into pony clubs and they go into all sorts of areas. At Dunkeld there is also a fantastic polo meet. I am not going to give you the date, Ms Purcell, because you will be out there protesting, and there are not enough stewards and police to keep you away at Dunkeld.

But look, this is a very important bill because out in the country we need the protection from people like you – sorry, Ms Purcell. And the Greens over there will be on the job too – soon – I imagine, won’t they, Ms Terpstra? It has happened already in the metropolitan area. Outside the tram tracks we are always a second thought, or the very last thought, but I am glad the government have got their act together and worked out that outside the tram tracks of Melbourne people need a bit of protection, too – thank you very much indeed, a wonderful thing – and we will have the support so that we can do a bit of arresting. If you happen to jump over a fence, Ms Purcell, you will be brought back into line, and if you go down to the stabling yard, you will be removed. I do hope there are not children. Somebody mentioned children could fall over a fence. I do not know what on earth the parents are doing to have children falling over a fence, but anyway, that is excluded if they happen to fall over a fence onto the track. They probably have not been to early childhood learning, where they would learn not to fall over the fence, wouldn’t they – at that wonderful free child care that you are promising us all.

We should remind everybody exactly what the purpose of the bill is, getting back to reality. It will prohibit unauthorised access to certain areas of racecourses during race meetings and official trial meetings, prohibit certain conduct during race meetings and official trial meetings and provide enforcement of these provisions. The purpose of these amendments is to promote the safety and welfare of all patrons and participants, including animals, at race meetings and official trial meetings and to avoid the potential consequences of incursions and disruptive conduct. That is sort of a no-brainer, really. I cannot imagine why you would be opposing it, any of you over there, because this is straightforward.

As for the workers, I would have thought you would be right into helping the workers and protecting their having a safe place each day when they go to work. They work incredibly hard, people in the horse industry. They get up very early, and it is hard work in climatic conditions that often are not favourable. They are not sitting in a nice air-conditioned office every day; they are out there before dawn looking after these magnificent animals for the pleasure of a lot of people – and believe me, anybody involved in the horse world loves their animals. We love our animals, and we look after them to the very best of our ability. Maybe if you are really concerned about some horses, go and check the ones in little paddocks where they are not being properly cared for. But the racing industry is a vitally important industry for Victoria, and these regulations are particularly important for rural Victoria and everybody outside the tram tracks of Melbourne.

Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (16:03): I rise to make a contribution on this very important bill, the Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022. It is always a very hard ask having to follow Mrs McArthur in such an entertaining and enlightening contribution there, and I thank Mrs McArthur for all of her very wise words of wisdom. I do note that in her contribution what is absolutely evident is that she does indeed love her horses. Whether they be brumbies or horses on the farm or previous racing horses or whatever, I know that you have a passion for horses, so it was very enlightening hearing about all of that. I think one of the hallmarks of this debate today has been about racing. Obviously it is a bill about a racing amendment; however, the scope of this bill is actually quite narrow, and what it goes to is creating some new offences and penalties for unauthorised access to restricted areas on Victorian racecourses and other dangerous or disruptive conduct at race meetings and official trials.

As a former union official, I am partial to a protest. There is nothing wrong with protesting. I absolutely endorse that everybody has a right to protest and the like; however, I do agree with some of the contributions made by some of my colleagues here about horses being big animals. Some of them are very heavy – they can be tonnes, literally. One thing I know, if you think it is a good idea to run in front of a racehorse, you are probably going to end up dead. Not only will you be either dead or very severely injured, you will also risk serious injury to that animal as well. Sometimes I think what we see are protesters who may have good intentions about what they are doing, but they are expressing it in a really not productive and unsafe way. Ultimately, if a protester does run in front of an animal and the animal is injured, like a horse, then the animal gets put down, and that kind of defeats the whole purpose of what perhaps the protest was about in the beginning.

I think safety is really at the heart of these amendments. I have seen footage on the news of people running onto racetracks, and it is just horrifying – I feel personally sick when I see someone run on to a racetrack when a race is being run. It is sickening. I kind of think: ‘Oh my goodness, if the person is going to get run down, they are going to be seriously injured or die.’ That is just a horrific thing. So I am not sure what the purpose is, or perhaps there is not a lot of thinking going on when a person wants to embark on that form of protest. I really do not know. I am just guessing. It is also shocking for spectators to see that happen. It is shocking for first responders to have to attend to that person on a racetrack. It is very distressing for people who might be watching at home when some of these race meets are obviously televised and the like.

So as I have said, I have attended many a protest, but I do not know that I have ever run onto a racetrack. In a previous life I had to give advice to a union official who was protesting. There were police on horseback, and one of the tactics that protesters were talking about was throwing marbles on the ground so that it would impact the horses’ hooves. Obviously that is very painful to an animal who is going to tread on a small, round, hard ball, and that would cause bruising to the foot of the animal and it may also result in the rider of that police horse being thrown from the horse as well. I just think that it is despicable conduct. It is terrible. It is very short-sighted. I know it happens. I do not endorse that kind of conduct. I think my advice to the person was: ‘Well, you will probably find yourself being taken away in a paddy wagon if the police catch you.’ And that is probably an appropriate response, because some of these things can border on animal cruelty as well. As I said, I have got no problem with people protesting and making a point, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere when an animal’s welfare is put at risk by some of the conduct of people.

This bill will create new offences. The main purpose is to ensure the safety and welfare of all patrons and participants, including animals, at all race and official trial meetings across the state. Racing clubs and event organisers will be able to clearly communicate the consequences of this sort of conduct to patrons, just like we see at other sporting events, and fans will be aware of the clear and significant fines and potential bans they could be subject to if they engage in this behaviour. Likewise, in other sporting codes, for example – and I have watched this – I have seen footage of people throwing full water bottles onto cricket grounds and at footy players and the like, and it is really terrible. So we have seen other sporting codes adopting similar approaches to make sure that players on-field who are participating in these sports are not injured. I am not sure this would necessarily happen in the racing context, but we have just actually seen it – I forget where it was – in one of the big soccer matches. People were throwing things and then everyone ran on to the pitch. So often you will see when people engage in that sort of behaviour it encourages others. Was it in Italy? Oh, it was here. It was a big match. Was it Melbourne Victory?

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Yes, it was Victory versus Heart.

Sonja TERPSTRA: Thank you. It was Victory versus Heart, so it was here. Again, the leagues and other sporting codes take strong action to hold their supporters to account in this context as well, and I think racing is no different. You do not have people who might support a particular club, but people might support a local racetrack and go and attend their local race meets. They can join a racing club, but they are not members of a sporting code. It is slightly different. But the behaviour and the context is similar – to try and make sure that people can go to these events and feel safe, not feel intimidated.

Bev McArthur: Have a day out with the family.

Sonja TERPSTRA: If that is what people want to do, have a day out, that is their choice. I share Mr Galea’s point of view. I am personally not into racing. I have been to the Melbourne Cup; it is just not for me. I know Mrs McArthur is going to invite me down to western Victoria to go to a race meet. I know. I can hear it coming, and I will wait for the invitation. I might take you up on that – just to be collegial. However, look, I have seen it and for me – I am speaking as a spectator – I do have concerns about animal welfare. Also, as a person, I can never see anything. Because I am small I can never see anything anyway when I go to these things. I am always behind very tall people. So I find that if I want to watch something I may as well watch it on TV or on a big screen somewhere, because I just cannot see. Also, people like having good fun at these things. There is often a lot of alcohol consumed, especially at Melbourne Cup. That is part of it; I understand that, but it is not for me. It adds another dimension to it. Nevertheless, I understand if people want to partake in racing and go along to those things, but again I think the creation of these new offences is again about trying to manage participant behaviour.

I do share broader concerns with some of my other colleagues in here about animal welfare, but today is not the day to talk about that, because what we are talking about is actually this bill and creating new offences to make sure patrons are safe. Racing Victoria, Harness Racing Victoria and Greyhound Racing Victoria will work with clubs to ensure the new arrangements are fully and clearly communicated at all events, which is kind of a good thing because, you know, fair warning to people. If you are going to throw something or run onto a racetrack, then likely you are going to face these penalties – and that is a good thing; you are being forewarned. So if you were to do these things, then you would expect that you might face the full force of the law or perhaps bans that might come in the future.

The new offences will include unauthorised entry into a restricted racing area, disrupting a race meeting or official trial meeting while in a restricted area, throwing or kicking a projectile into or within a restricted racing area – I mean, honestly, I just cannot imagine. As has been commented on before, horses are large animals but they are flighty. Some of them can be more flighty than others, and I know that some racehorses are very flighty. I cannot imagine – if you were going to throw or kick something into an area where there are horses – how that would make the point about the protest you want to make. It is going to scare the animal and potentially throw the rider off and injure someone. So I just do not understand that. There are other ways to protest. Throwing something or kicking something into an area where there are animals is just – whatever, I do not get that. Similarly there is causing an object to fly into or land in a restricted racing area and climbing on a fence or barricade separating a restricted racing area from a non-restricted area. I think I do recall seeing footage of people sometimes climbing into the barriers just at the start to kind of do things. Again, I do not know. I mean, these animals are big animals and they are heavy. It is just a recipe for danger and disaster, so that is very concerning. They are just some of the offences that will I guess be enshrined in this bill. It really is about providing a stronger deterrent for stupid and dangerous behaviour, like I said, such as running onto a racetrack during a race meet. Like, why?

There will be obviously a defence for these things. It talks about how a defence of ‘reasonable excuse’ will apply in respect to these new offences, which will cover situations such as retrieving a child or responding to an emergency. If you made a judgement – like if your child falls over a fence – that you were going in there to get your child, or in an emergency situation perhaps someone had a medical episode and you jumped over the fence to help or whatever, that is a reasonable excuse. Obviously that would need to be supported with evidence to make that out; there would be some testing of that excuse, no doubt. They are reasonable things to have as part of this bill.

Also, as part of this, the areas that will be classified as restricted racing areas reflect the operational arrangements that are already in place at Victorian racecourses for event management and health and safety purposes. These things are already there, it is just adding some additional offences. It is disappointing that we have to do this, but it is something that we want to ensure. As I said, in other sporting codes we have seen similar moves being made. I might just talk about the AFL for a minute. Not only with dangerous behaviour, we have seen the AFL really attempt – and I think they have done a reasonable job, though there is always more work to do – to take strong action on racist behaviour and commentary and racist behaviour and comments being directed at players on field. There has been strong condemnation of clubs for not taking appropriate action. So again, we are trying to make sure that if people make decisions to go along to support these events, whether it be racing or soccer or AFL, patrons who are there can enjoy themselves. It is not a pleasant experience, especially when you have got young children with you, if you are at the footy and people are screaming racist comments. That is not appropriate.

Likewise, if I was at a race meet and someone was running on a track and I had my child there, I would not want my child to see what might happen as a consequence of someone being hit by a horse at high speed. That would not be pleasant. It would not be pleasant for the child to see, and it certainly would not be pleasant for anyone present at the racetrack to see. So this is really important. While police will be present at a lot larger events, there still can be a risk of this type of behaviour, and where it is higher perhaps the authorities might do a bit of a risk analysis and determine that the risk is greater at some events than others. Racing stewards will be appointed as authorised officers to manage the enforcement action at race meetings where police are not present. So if the police are not there, stewards will be deemed as authorised officers in order to manage that behaviour.

I will not go on and repeat some of the things that my colleagues have said about the contribution that racing makes to the Victorian economy. Obviously it is there. People have commented on that earlier. Look, it is government policy to ensure that we continue to have a racing industry. It is well supported by government. It is also well supported by Victorians, but again the main scope and purpose of this bill is to make sure we have appropriate responses to behaviour that is less than desirable and in some cases incredibly stupid. I commend this bill to the house.

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (16:17): I am pleased to speak in support of this bill. I want to first acknowledge my shadow cabinet colleague Tim Bull, the Shadow Minister for Racing. I know he has taken a deep interest in this bill and consulted with stakeholders as well. Some of the contributions I am hearing in this debate – and I hear them from the other side – are almost apologetic about bringing this bill forward. They are almost apologetic about supporting the racing industry. Well, I am here to say that I do not apologise for supporting the racing industry and in fact I support it wholeheartedly, as do all of us on this side of the chamber.

The aim of this bill is to prohibit the unauthorised access of certain areas of racecourses during race meetings and official trial meetings, to prohibit certain disruptive conduct during race meetings and official trials and to provide enforcement of these provisions. Personally, I think this is a very, very good idea. Unfortunately – shamefully – the Melbourne Cup Carnival last year was disrupted by protesters who broke into Flemington Racecourse and poured a strange oily substance over the track at 6 am to protest against the Victorian Racing Club. These Extinction Rebellion folk would line up with the same people who say they care about animals but in reality are actively taking steps that would harm these beautiful animals.

It would be remiss of me not to discuss during this debate the fantastic, the great, racecourses in my electorate. I only wish my colleague from Northern Metropolitan Mr Erdogan was here to hear this, because I know he has recently been spending time in the south-east. He has now come back into Northern Metro, which is nice, and I would like to talk about the great racetracks in the Northern Metropolitan Region. My electorate contains the Flemington Racecourse, which would be familiar to many of you – I know it would be familiar to the Greens member for Northern Metropolitan – and it also features the Moonee Valley Racecourse, a racetrack close to my heart. That is where my Liberal Party preselection took place for the Northern Metropolitan Region.

Bev McArthur interjected.

Evan MULHOLLAND: For the member for Western Victoria, this also provides an opportunity to say these are not just racetracks. They provide community facilities and community meeting places for functions, for dinners and for balls, and for many of my community – I know for many in Ms McArthur’s community – they provide a great community meeting place, a great place for the community to get together. On the Moonee Valley Racecourse, who could turn down a schooner at the Legends bar looking over that great racetrack and looking at that view of the city. It is just brilliant.

And how could I forget the Meadows greyhound track in Broadmeadows. I was delighted to attend the Phoenix greyhound race last year, which some might not be aware is the richest greyhound race not only in Australia but in the world – right here in the northern suburbs, right in the heart of Broadmeadows. Some of the candidates and MPs and former MPs for Broadmeadows might not know where the Meadows racetrack is – they might be more familiar with Brighton – but it is right in the heart of Broadmeadows, which is great. I was pleased to go last year to the Phoenix, and who did I bump into at the Phoenix but the former Premier of Victoria and the former minister for racing Denis Napthine, who was a great minister for racing in our state and I know takes a keen interest in the Victorian racing industry post politics. And you will all be pleased to know he is doing very well. I also want to put on record the terrific family events put on at the Meadows, with jumping castles, kids stalls and activities making the greyhounds a fun, great, family-friendly event. I invite my Northern Metropolitan colleague Ms Ratnam to come with me at some point to the Meadows in her electorate so she can see firsthand what a great, family-friendly event the Meadows greyhounds is.

I was delighted – I know this report has been mentioned by a few of my colleagues on both sides of the chamber – to read the Size and Scope of the Victorian Racing Industry report, jointly prepared by Racing Victoria, Greyhound Racing Victoria, Harness Racing Victoria and the Victorian state government, released just last July. It found that the racing industry in Victoria provides a direct $1.6 billion to the Victorian economy and an indirect and induced $3.1 billion. This is a total of $4.7 billion the Victorian racing industry provides to our state in economic benefits. My regional colleagues like Ms McArthur, Ms Heath and Ms Broad would be interested to know and pleased to hear that the racing industry is a major supporter of regional Victoria, with more than half of that $4.7 billion value-add occurring in regional areas.

The industry engages over 99,000 individuals who participate in the racing industry as either a trainer, breeder, volunteer or owner and is responsible for generating nearly $3.2 billion in expenditure in Victoria, 65 per cent of which is in regional areas. The racing industry provides a total of 34,900 jobs in Victoria. I say to those who say ‘Nup to the Cup’ and I say to those who want to talk down our racing industry in Victoria: what do you say to those 34,900 people? What do they do for work? Some people also claim to support workers, like those in the timber industry. Where do those people go? I do worry about employment in growth areas. I do worry about employment in regional areas. What happens to those people if we say things like ‘Nup to the Cup’? The chairman of Racing Victoria Brian Kruger said the report demonstrated that:

… the racing industry continues to play a crucial role to the state’s economy with impacts extending well beyond those seen at the racetrack.

… close to 150,000 people are involved in and supported by the industry with racing continuing to be a major employer in Victoria.

Indeed the report shows a total of $501.5 million in taxes are generated to Victorian government coffers from the racing industry. Now, I ask again: those who say ‘Nup to the Cup’, what services would you cut to fill that $500 million black hole? What kinders would you close down? What schools would you close down? What hospitals would you close down? What roads would you not fund? What tram track extensions would you discontinue? They cannot answer this. So I do worry about Nup to the Cup and I do worry about those opposite, because we have seen this slippery slope and we have seen that Labor once said they supported things like Australia Day. They used to; they have backed off on that this year. They are not allowing parades and things like that. So it is a slippery slope and I do wonder whether they will eventually support Nup to the Cup, because as much as they have said they strongly support the racing industry, we have seen in other examples in other areas like Australia Day that the Premier’s private office would much rather brief the Guardian on how noble and virtuous they are, talking down Australia Day, and I worry that the next block on the chopping board is the racing industry. I do worry about that.

My colleagues across the chamber in maybe the Animal Justice Party or the Greens will be pleased to hear that the study also pointed to the importance of the racing industry to Victoria’s multicultural communities, which is an area close to my heart. Some will remember my inaugural speech, where I talked about the need to amplify the voices of migrants and migrant families in our multicultural communities and support them in this place. I am here to do exactly that, because the report said that racing clubs are helping to facilitate opportunities for our diverse communities to better engage in their societies, indeed citing that around 35 racing clubs in Victoria have now a defined and specific focus on playing a positive role in improving the connection with those from CALD backgrounds, and I am very pleased to note that. Some specific examples include themed race meetings to highlight specific countries and cultures, growing acknowledgement of traditional landowners in all communications, providing employment opportunities in local schools for Indigenous people and CALD students, and seeking charity partnerships with minority groups. It is not just us on this side that support the sector. Even Minister for Racing Mr Carbines was quoted, saying, ‘This report shows how vital the racing industry is to our economy.’ We may not agree with the crazy socialist policies on the other side, but I acknowledge the work of Mr Carbines, who in fact used to be my local member a long time ago, and I acknowledge the work that he has done in this space. The fact that the racing industry has long had such a part and will continue to have a critical part of what it is to be Victorian is deeply beneficial to this state.

Two words: the Melbourne Cup. It is the race that stops a nation. Sydneysiders hate that we have the Melbourne Cup; they hate how big it is. But it is so important. It is great that as Victorians that we can champion this as the race that stops the nation, because Melbourne is king, Victoria is king and it is part of who we are in Victoria. I say any plans to disrupt or close down any part of this racing industry would punish the millions of people that work in this industry and enjoy this industry – including those in our multicultural communities, many of whom live in my electorate in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. They will not thank those who dare to tread on their turf. That is why I support this bill.

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep, Minister for Environment) (16:29): Look at this! I am going to make a contribution on this bill, and I am very happy to do so. Mrs McArthur is in for a treat, because she will possibly be unaware about my interest in the racing industry, which goes back to my days at the Australian Services Union as a proud official of that union and the work I did with many fine men and women who work at racing tracks right across the state. I appreciate that there are strong views about the racing industry across this chamber and around this chamber. I appreciate that people have got very strong opinions about animal welfare issues and also of course gambling issues. But of course this bill is not about any of those matters. This bill is about making sure that safety is at the heart of our racing meets right across the state. I have heard a little bit about the Melbourne Cup Carnival, and of course that is a really important event in Melbourne’s sporting calendar. It does generate enormous economic activity; it employs a lot of people. But I want to talk about outside the tram tracks, Mrs McArthur, because I would actually argue that the changes that this bill will introduce are needed far more outside the tram tracks than they are in what I would describe as the kind of very well heeled world of group one racing in Melbourne, particularly around the spring carnival.

I am going to make a confession. I have been involved in a protest at a racetrack. None of the activities that I was involved in would have got me into any trouble with respect to the bill before us, but I have been involved in a protest at Flemington. In fact, Mrs McArthur, you were probably one of the people in the members stand booing me at the time. But this protest was actually about the wages and conditions of the people who worked at the TAB on track and advocating for them to receive a fair pay rise after a number of years of what I would describe as wage constraint. So of course I would never condone the kind of protest that we are seeking to deal with through this bill. I do not know how you could possibly find yourself in a situation where a child falls over the barrier, but look, I understand that some country race meets are a family affair and it could be potentially possible. But of course the real aim of this bill is to make sure that no race meeting – whether it is thoroughbred, whether it is greyhound, whether it is any kind of code or in any small town, regional centre or in the city – is disrupted and people’s safety and animal welfare are put in jeopardy. So I fully support the intent of this bill.

I would also like to echo some of the comments that people have made today about what an important employer the racing industry is. I think that in metropolitan Melbourne we have a lot of racing clubs that are quite well-off, that do quite well, and I would like to see that right across the state. Unfortunately, I know that some of the smaller racetracks do struggle to be viable. It is a seasonal industry, and so in terms of the workers that work particularly in regional Victoria it is kind of famine and feast in terms of their work. So they will all get plenty of work during the spring carnival and they will get plenty of work in the non-winter months, but they all really struggle for work during winter. I think that what would be great is if there was a little bit more of an even playing field for some of these racetracks around the state.

The one thing I would say is that people who work in the racing industry are really passionate about the industry. They care about animal welfare. They actually really care about the community spirit around a lot of these annual or seasonal events that happen across the state. You will be pleased to know I have been to the Warrnambool Cup a few times, Mrs McArthur; it is a fantastic event. Regardless of your views about the type of racing that goes on, there are literally hundreds of people that travel from right across the state to attend that race meet but also to work at it. There are hundreds of people that go there for almost a week and get that work. I guess one of the things that I think struck me about the people who work in the racing industry is that they are absolutely the salt of the earth. I think they deserve a little bit more stability in terms of the wages and conditions that they enjoy working in that industry. It is not secure employment. I am sure that the Australian Services Union continues to advocate strongly for them, but the reality is that we need to make sure that these race meets, wherever they might be, are not disrupted by dangerous behaviour, and this is what this bill seeks to do.

I think it may have already been noted today that whilst the eight Victorian race meetings during spring carnival are already covered by that Major Events Act 2009, some of the incidents that have occurred more recently have taken place at some of the slightly smaller trucks, including Cranbourne, Moonee Valley and Penshurst, and those events are not currently covered by the Major Events Act, so what we are seeking to do here is have some consistency. It is very dangerous behaviour – I think Ms Terpstra has touched on that already – in terms of the consequences. Actually doing something that would stop or disrupt a race can have very dangerous consequences not only for the jockeys and the horses or the animals involved in that particular event but also for all the stewards and the barrier staff and all the people that actually work on the track. It can be incredibly dangerous for them. They deserve to have a safe workplace. One of the things that we have to ensure is that no matter what industry you work in, regardless of the nature of it, there is actually a broad responsibility for the employer to provide a safe workplace. I think that the changes that we are making in this bill absolutely go to that very important principle that a safe workplace must be and is an employer obligation, and this is why it is important that this bill is passed, and it is pleasing that it is going to be supported today by the opposition.

I think that in terms of stewards, they are the most appropriate people that are on track to actually carry out enforcement functions in the absence of police. They do have that sort of role in the racing industry already, and some of them are already authorised officers for the purposes of animal welfare legislation. There has been extensive consultation undertaken with the racing controlling bodies to ensure that they are comfortable with the authorised officer arrangements in the bill, and the industry has provided assurances that it will manage rosters and steward workloads appropriately, and that is to ensure the additional enforcement role does not impact delivery of some of the other important integrity services that they undertake at race and trial meetings.

I think that we have traversed this topic pretty well today. It is very important that the main purpose of the bill is not kind of misconstrued. Clearly at the heart of this is the health and safety and welfare of all patrons and participants and of course the workforce – the very diverse workforce – that work in the racing industry, whether that is at a metropolitan racetrack or anywhere else in the state, and of course patrons are also being kept safe through the changes that are in this bill. The bill does this. It is very important in terms of having stronger deterrents in place for this kind of behaviour, such as running onto the track. There will be, as others have outlined already, new offences included in the bill. I think that I might leave my contribution there.

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (16:40): I am pleased to stand today to talk about the Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022, and I give my support as the Nationals member for Northern Victoria Region to the provisions in this bill. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Racing Act 1958. It aims to prohibit unauthorised access to certain areas of racecourses during race meetings and official trial meetings, prohibit certain disruptive conduct during race meetings and official trials and provide enforcement of these provisions. Evidently these requirements already exist at major racing events, so it is applying the same standards across other racing events. It is important to be consistent and to have consistent safeguards, and that is what this bill does at every thoroughbred, harness and greyhound race meeting and also at official trial meetings right across the state. It will also make illegal disruptive behaviour in and around restricted areas and allow for law enforcement officers to intervene when required. It is going to restrict areas, which include the racetrack, mounting yards, stables and kennels, and it also prevents climbing on fences or barricades that are adjacent to a restricted racing area. They are very practical, commonsense solutions and amendments here to ensure that our racecourses are safe for people as well as for animals.

These changes have actually been brought forward by the industry, and they have very strong industry support. I am always in favour of consultation with industry, and I am very pleased that the following groups have been consulted in this process, including Racing Victoria, Harness Racing Victoria, Greyhound Racing Victoria, race clubs, the Victorian Jockeys Association, Victorian thoroughbred owners and breeders associations and also Country Racing Victoria. I also visited the Bendigo racecourse just recently, and it was good to discuss this bill with local committee members. I have enjoyed attending races in the past, and I would love to go to the races with Mrs McArthur as well. I am looking forward to cup day in Kerang on Saturday 8 April, which is Easter Saturday. That is a great event. It has got visitors who love to come and camp along the river, and you will get the opportunity if you would like to come and join me. It is a great day of horseracing. There are activities for the kids. There is fashions on the field; I will not be entering.

Across Victoria we have 2 million people that attend races, which is quite an incredible number. Attending a cup day is a great opportunity to get out and enjoy regional Victoria. If you are looking for something to do, I invite you to come to Wangaratta. The Wangaratta Cup will be held on 4 March, the Towong Cup on 11 March and also the Echuca Cup on 12 March, and then on 11 June we have got Swan Hill Cup Day, or you might want to visit Mildura on 21 July. Then in September we have got the Benalla cup, and November is pretty action packed, which is not surprising; we have got the Bendigo Cup, the Kilmore Cup and the Wodonga cup. It was great to visit Bendigo Jockey Club recently and have a morning with members. Over 300 people attended. There are lots more racing clubs right across northern Victoria, and in fact across our state there are 86,000 people who are members of a racing club. Some of the clubs we have in northern are Wangaratta Turf club and Benalla Racing Club. We have got Kyneton & Hanging Rock Racing Club, the Kilmore Racing Club –

A member: Tatura.

Gaelle BROAD: Tatura – yes, thank you. We have got Racing Wodonga; Kilmore, I may have mentioned; Yea Racing –

Wendy Lovell: Echuca.

Gaelle BROAD: Echuca – yes, thank you, Wendy Lovell – Swan Hill Jockey Club and Mildura Racing Club, and hopefully I have not missed any other names, but I am sure all these clubs would welcome new members. I worked with a lady whose husband was a horse trainer, and I know what hours they work. They are up well before the crack of dawn, so they work extremely hard. They do a lot of travel. It is very impressive the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes in the racing industry.

The Victorian racing industry contributes nearly $4.7 billion to the Victorian economy. That is incredible. More than 121,000 people are directly employed or volunteer or participate in the racing industry, and the Victorian racing industry, as we have heard today, supports nearly 35,000 full-time jobs, which is crucial. There are some interesting facts that I thought would be worth sharing that I guess summarise the thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing industry in Victoria. There are nearly 4000 breeders, over 3300 trainers, more than 83,000 people who are owners or syndicate members who are involved and nearly 900 jockeys. In Victoria we have 128 racing clubs and 108 racetracks. We have 2164 race meetings and over 22,000 races. I know Warrnambool has been mentioned recently, and I have not actually been to the Warrnambool race.

Bev McArthur: We can change that.

Gaelle BROAD: Thank you. I will take you up on that. I would love to go along.

Bev McArthur: Only protesters are not coming.

Gaelle BROAD: Well, I am certainly not part of that. I would love to attend. I have certainly stood on the foreshore in Warrnambool. It is a place that our family loves to go to over summer, and to watch the horses being trained in the water is just a beautiful sight – the care and the concern that they take to look after those horses, the amount of work that they do to maintain them and look after them. It is an absolutely stunning early morning in Warrnambool, so I would highly recommend going down to the foreshore and having a look at the floats and the horses.

The racing industry is a very important part of the Northern Victoria Region. It makes a significant contribution, and I particularly want to thank the committees and the volunteers right across the state for their involvement. I am looking forward to a great day out at the Kerang Cup. I certainly will not be entering the fashions on the fields, but I look forward to seeing it. I support the proposed reforms in this bill. They are practical, and they have been put forward to keep our racecourses safe so that everyone can enjoy a great day out.

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (16:48): I also rise to comment on the Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022 and support the objectives of the bill, and I am very proud that the coalition, which is now in opposition – and hopefully will not be for much longer – are very, very pleased to be able to support this bill. The racing industry is home to a lot of people. The Sandown racing area and the Cranbourne racing area fall into the South-Eastern Region, and it is a place where people actually have their livelihoods as well as their leisure time. I have had the great privilege of being in both areas. I am very, very pleased and proud to have had time with members of the community that are in the racing industry, and I know that it is really important for this community to be able to enjoy this form of leisure and to be able to enjoy their livelihoods without concerns about people’s safety in terms of protesters or other people that might come into places where they really should not be. So it is my great privilege and pleasure to be able to support this bill for the local people in the community and those that come into our local area in the South-Eastern Region to support the racing industry, the greyhound industry and the horseracing industry in Sandown and Cranbourne and throughout Victoria.

Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (16:49): I would like to just take this opportunity to thank members for their contributions, especially new members, many of whom gave their first contributions on this legislative debate. I would also like to thank Minister Carbines and his office for progressing this important legislation through the Parliament which is before us today. This is quite a straightforward bill, and I hope that all members support this bill before us. To restate the main purpose of the bill, it is to ensure the safety and welfare of all patrons and participants, including animals, at all race and official trial meetings across our state.

Extensive consultation has taken place, especially with the racing bodies to ensure that they are comfortable with the authorised officer arrangements in the bill. The industry has provided assurances that it will manage rosters and stewards’ workloads to ensure the additional enforcement role does not impact delivery of important integrity measures at races and at trial meetings. I also note that as outlined the bill is about deterrence, and enforcement activity is expected to be very limited. These laws will ensure consistency across the racing industry and puts us into line with other comparative jurisdictions. If members have any questions, I would be happy to take them in the committee stage.

Council divided on motion:

Ayes (29): Matthew Bach, Ryan Batchelor, Melina Bath, John Berger, Lizzie Blandthorn, Jeff Bourman, Gaelle Broad, Georgie Crozier, Moira Deeming, Enver Erdogan, Jacinta Ermacora, Michael Galea, Renee Heath, Ann-Marie Hermans, Shaun Leane, David Limbrick, Wendy Lovell, Trung Luu, Bev McArthur, Joe McCracken, Nicholas McGowan, Tom McIntosh, Evan Mulholland, Ingrid Stitt, Jaclyn Symes, Lee Tarlamis, Sonja Terpstra, Rikkie Tyrrell, Sheena Watt

Noes (7): Katherine Copsey, David Ettershank, Sarah Mansfield, Rachel Payne, Aiv Puglielli, Georgie Purcell, Samantha Ratnam

Motion agreed to.

Read second time.

Committed.

Committee

Clause 1 (16:58)

Georgie CROZIER: I am just wondering if the minister could provide some examples of the sorts of behaviours that this bill seeks to address. Will it take into consideration anti-racing protesters that sometimes disrupt tracks and antagonise patrons of race meeting events?

Enver ERDOGAN: Thank you, Ms Crozier, for your question and your interest in the debate today. I listened to your contribution and your strong support for the racing industry. I guess, examples of the sort of behaviour that we envisage this bill stopping or disincentivising are protesters throwing or kicking projectiles or causing objects to be thrown onto a racetrack during a meeting or an official trial meeting. I think that is very important. The bill will additionally restrict a person, including protesters, without a reasonable excuse, from climbing on a fence, barrier or barricade within a restricted racing area during a race meeting or an official trial meeting.

Georgie CROZIER: Thank you, Minister. If I could just explore that a little bit, you just said it would restrict people that were climbing on a fence, or protesters, I cannot quite recall your words, but without a reasonable excuse. What sort of excuse would somebody need to climb a fence if they were protesting or they were not allowed onto the track?

Enver ERDOGAN: If it was for the purpose of a protest, that would not be allowed. It is more – the reasonable excuse is where a child runs onto the racetrack. The main purpose of this bill is of course to stop people doing something drunkenly, doing something silly and endangering lives.

Georgie CROZIER: Thank you for that clarification, Minister. Minister, if I could go to the issue around, which the bill does relate to, authorised officers. In the minister’s second-reading speech, if you could just bear with me, it says:

The new offences will be enforced by Victoria Police or authorised officers appointed by the Secretary of the relevant department.

Victoria Police will have primary responsibility for the enforcement of the provisions at those race meetings where a sworn officer is in attendance.

However, most Victorian race meetings are conducted without any police presence. In those instances, the offences will be enforced by other authorised officers. The Bill inserts new provisions into the Racing Act that enable the Secretary of the relevant department to appoint racing stewards and persons who have appropriate skills, qualifications, knowledge, or experience as authorised officers. It is intended that at least one authorised officer will be present at every Victorian race meeting or official trial meeting.

So with that in mind, it says that if there is no police presence, then it would be up to the stewards. But often they are very busy so those authorised officers – you are guaranteeing that an authorised officer will be present at every race meeting. Is that what the intention of the bill is, just to free up those stewards that have got other duties? They are often very busy at a race meeting, and they do not have the capacity to be looking at the issues that might arise if they have got a protester or some other action taking place on the racetrack.

Enver ERDOGAN: I think it is not envisaged that these types of incidents will be a frequent occurrence. In the preparation of this bill there was extensive consultation with racing bodies to ensure that they were comfortable with the authorised officer arrangements. It is envisaged that in most circumstances the stewards will be the ones that will be trained appropriately to take on these duties. Obviously we are not envisaging this to be a frequent occurrence, so it should not add too much to their workload, but I do appreciate they are very busy. But there are also provisions for the secretary to appoint other such officials as authorised officers, as you have outlined – people with the appropriate skill or authority – in consultation with the racing bodies.

Georgie CROZIER: Thank you, Minister, for that response. So in relation to those stewards or other officials that then become an authorised officer that have to have the appropriate skills, qualifications, knowledge or experience, have the government or the department undertaken a skill set at the moment in relation to those stewards that are present? Does the government have any idea how many stewards will have to be trained up to undertake these roles as authorised officers? And then who will be paying for that education for them to do so? Is that up to the racing club or would the government do that?

Enver ERDOGAN: Very good question. Thank you, Ms Crozier. The respective racing bodies will be responsible for the cost of that training. In terms of how many people will be trained, obviously there will need to be enough for every track. In terms of the skill sets, it is envisaged it will be a similar skill set to what other authorised officers have in other similar professions.

Georgie CROZIER: Could I just ask: the second-reading speech says that at least one authorised officer will be present at every Victorian race meeting or official trial meeting. Now, I do not know the numbers of those race meetings or trial meetings that occur throughout Victoria. I am just wondering if you could provide the committee with that number that we are talking about. The reason I ask that is I am trying to ascertain, if you have got a race meet outside, obviously, the major ones that we have spoken about where there is policing undertaken, and when those stewards sometimes have very busy roles but are also trained as the authorised officer, who picks up what? What is the government’s intention if that one steward who is also an authorised officer is unavailable? Who fills in? Will there be other authorised officers that will fill that gap? What is the government’s intention to assist that race club or race meeting or trial meeting in undertaking that role?

Enver ERDOGAN: Thank you, Ms Crozier. Like you said, it is envisaged that the obligation is on the racing bodies to ensure that they have an appropriately trained authorised officer present. So I guess if someone is not able to attend, they need to make sure that someone that is qualified that has undertaken the training is present and able for that race day.

Georgie CROZIER: Thank you, and you might have to get some advice on this: how many race meetings and trials are we talking about each year in Victoria?

Enver ERDOGAN: Thank you, Ms Crozier. I am informed that there are over 2000 race meetings annually in Victoria – 2300 approximately. There are already race stewards at all those meetings, so they will need to be appropriately trained as authorised officers. We are only expecting a handful of incidents annually, as I said earlier. We are not expecting a large amount of these types of nasty incidents. I hope that answers your question.

Georgie CROZIER: Thank you, Minister. The reason I ask that is we have seen an increase in activity over recent years, unfortunately, around protesters and some of this behaviour that has occurred. I would hope that we would not see a further increase, but has the government identified certain race meetings where they anticipate that those particular clubs will need to have a greater presence rather than just one authorised officer?

Enver ERDOGAN: Thank you, Ms Crozier. We have not seen an uptick in protest activity. This bill is not targeted towards just protest activity; it is more so about drunkenness and misbehaviour in general at racetracks across our state. So we are not expecting an increase to more than the existing incidents that occur annually.

Georgie CROZIER: Just in relation to that, I know that in some country meetings there is quite a large police presence to deal with antisocial or drunken behaviour, and I am particularly aware of some race meetings where that has actually had a big impact, the police presence, on some of these race meetings. So what has the government discussed with police so that they are also aware of working with these authorised officers to ensure that there is appropriate coverage and to enable those 2000 meetings to have at least an authorised officer if there are no police present?

Enver ERDOGAN: As Ms Crozier has pointed out, where there are police present, they will be the main persons responsible for enforcement. As part of drafting this legislation Victoria Police were consulted and they did not raise any concerns.

Nicholas McGOWAN: Just in respect to that answer, where in the bill does it state that?

Enver ERDOGAN: Mr McGowan, are you asking about the consultation? Which clause are you asking about?

Nicholas McGOWAN: That is in respect to the police officer being the officer that would execute the authority.

Enver ERDOGAN: Thank you, Mr McGowan. As you would understand, the definition of ‘authorised officer’ is listed in section 3 as:

(a) a police officer; or

(b) a person appointed as an authorised officer …

In terms of the hierarchy that you are asking about, I guess that is just the practice. Where police are present, they are the ones that are the main people responsible.

Nicholas McGOWAN: So to be clear, it is not in the bill. Is that correct? The order which the minister spoke of – that is, that the police officer would be the officer that would be executing the delegation or the authority and that in preference and over the other delegated officers, the police officer would be the first – is correct?

Enver ERDOGAN: Yes. Mr McGowan is correct that they are both authorised officers under the definition.

Clause agreed to; clauses 2 to 7 agreed to.

Reported to house without amendment.

Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (17:17): I move:

That the report be adopted.

Motion agreed to.

Report adopted.

Third reading

Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (17:17): I move:

That the bill be now read a third time.

Motion agreed to.

Read third time.

The PRESIDENT: Pursuant to standing order 14.28, the bill will be returned to the Assembly with a message informing them that the Council has agreed to the bill without amendment.