Tuesday, 17 February 2026

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (17:56): (2312) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Racing, and the action that I seek is for the government to hold Racing Victoria to account on their commitment to review jumps racing. Shamefully, Racing Victoria has quietly announced they will not conduct a full review of the 2027 season as promised. A review into this blood sport was called at the end of the 2024 jumps racing season after 10 horses died, including three on the final day of the season at Ballarat. Following that review, Racing Victoria ignored mounting pressure for a ban despite every other state having already outlawed jumps racing. That Racing Victoria has backtracked on one of its commitments to conduct a broader review of jumps racing after three years is unforgivable. It is time that the racing minister intervenes and holds this grubby industry to account, because it is not the job of the racing minister to be a friend of the industry purely to cop an invite to race days and flashy corporate box events. It is his job to ensure they are held to account and operating efficiently. Sadly, that is not the case here in Victoria, because this Labor government loves to have an inappropriate relationship with our animal racing industries to the point that animal welfare is suffering.

As reported in the Age today, a Parliamentary Budget Office report prepared before the last year’s budget update found that jumps racing is running at a loss despite what this government would try and spin and tell the public. The truth of the matter is that in 2024–25 jumps racing cost taxpayers $1.8 million more than it generated in gambling revenue. The data shows government spending increased from $1.1 million in 2023–2024 to $2.8 million in 2024–25. At a time when our state has such serious financial troubles that our government is seeking to cut vital services such as VicHealth it makes absolutely no sense that we are blatantly wasting money on propping up a flailing industry.

Jumps racing is not only bad for the budget; it is bad for horses that are forced to jump obstacles at breakneck speed carrying heavier weights than horses in a flat race. While the industry will spruik that they have made safety improvements over the last few decades, fatality, fall and injury rates have not differed at all. During the 2024 Victorian season we know that one in every 24 horses died in a jumps race and one in every 10 horses that started resulted in some kind of injury. Let me make it clear to the racing minister: these are not great odds.

Given the government clearly is not willing to show the same courage as their South Australian counterparts, I urge the minister to at the very least hold this insidious industry to account and force a review at the end of next year’s season, just as the industry promised that they would do – or better yet, just step in, do the job and end it.