Tuesday, 15 August 2023

Business of the house

Parliamentary privilege

Right of reply: Greyhound Racing Victoria

The PRESIDENT (13:09): Under standing order 21.03 I present a right of reply from Terrie Benfield, general counsel and general manager, corporate services, at Greyhound Racing Victoria relating to comments made by Ms Purcell during a second-reading speech on 30 May 2023. During my consideration of the application for the right of reply, I notified Ms Purcell in writing and further consulted with her on the submission. I remind the house that the standing orders require me to not consider or judge the truth of any statements made in the Council or the submission. In accordance with standing orders, the right of reply is ordered to be published and incorporated in Hansard.

Reply as follows:

Right of reply – inaction by GRV

Ms Georgie Purcell made statements in the Legislative Council on 30 May 2023 as follows.

Ms Purcell stated:

To paraphrase quotes of some recent participants from this industry: ‘When we gave a possum to the greyhound, the more it scratched him the more he went nuts,’ ‘If anyone says anything, you went out and caught it in the run … It’s not your fault,’ and, ‘A few months ago he was letting dogs live in his trailer because he didn’t have enough kennels, and he literally forgot about them and they starved to death.’ and ‘In 2002 I sent Greyhound Racing Victoria an email telling them which trainer to buy live possums from and how much they were. Guess what, he is still selling possums.’ and ‘I went to the racing integrity commissioner earlier this year with some recorded phone calls of trainers bragging about drugging dogs and live baiting. Nothing happened.’ Those are just a few of the conversations that have been sent through to my office in recent times.

Ms Purcell’s statements suggested that Ms Purcell had credible information that Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) had failed to act on information that identified persons registered with GRV undertaking criminal activity. GRV did not receive the email quoted by Ms Purcell. GRV does not have the information Ms Purcell states is in her possession. Ms Purcell did not contact GRV to verify this information before making these statements.

By stating that she had received the evidence and quoting it with a statement that GRV also has the information and failed to act on it, GRV’s reputation as a statutory entity has been adversely affected and public confidence in GRV registered participants will be adversely affected.

By stating that herself or her office spoke directly to participants and then referring to them as quotes results in a public perception that not only did Ms Purcell receive the information directly from a registered participant, but that she found the information provided credible enough for her to restate those claims in Parliament. The assumption on behalf of the public is that these statements are true.

If not appropriately clarified, these statements will reduce the likelihood referrals will be made to GRV. This not only negatively effects GRV’s ability to safeguard the integrity of the greyhound industry but also has a direct and adverse impact on welfare outcomes and so the performance of GRV’s statutory functions.

GRV has a robust regulatory framework and a zero tolerance for baiting on luring offences. A key part of achieving this is to gather any information that may point to unlawful or inappropriate activity relevant to our industry. GRV strongly encourages all members of our community and any member of the general public to report any such information to the Greyhound Racing Integrity Unit (GRIU) for investigation.

This can be done online via this link https://www.grv.org.au/report-suspicious-activity/, or by calling the Investigations Hotline on 1300 856 109 and can be done anonymously.

Right of reply – statement attributed to GRV

Ms Georgie Purcell in the Legislative Council on 30 May 2023 made statements that “GRV have confirmed that they will not be following up on this matter, simply because Mr Borda is from South Australia and also registered there.” GRV did not make these statements to Ms Purcell.

The person referenced by Ms Purcell, is the Owner of the greyhound and is registered in South Australia, not with Greyhound Racing Victoria. If the breach of the Rules of Racing occurred, it occurred in South Australia, not Victoria. Given this, Greyhound Racing Victoria does not have jurisdiction to act against the Owner in relation to these offences.

Greyhound Racing South Australia (GRSA) is responsible for the investigation and any prosecution deriving from that investigation. However, because both of the Owner’s greyhounds were last trained and raced in Victoria, the GRV Greyhound Racing Integrity Unit (GRIU) have assisted GRSA by making inquiries with the trainers who are registered in Victoria. Should GRSA bring charges against the Owner, those charges will be heard and determined in South Australia.

If not appropriately clarified, the statement by Ms Purcell that GRV stated that GRV will not take action adversely impacts on public confidence in GRV which adversely impacts on GRV’s statutory functions.