Question details
Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club
(853) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Racing, and I am glad to see him at the table. The action I seek is for the minister to meet with the Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club to discuss its future. Greyhound Racing Victoria suspended racing at the venue in July after issues with the lure, and members are unsure about whether racing will resume or what the future holds for the club. The club entered into voluntary administration with GRV in July 2023. After 12 months under GRV, issues with the lure continued, and management of Traralgon was transferred to the Sale greyhound racing club. It was then that racing ceased altogether at Traralgon. I am told planning and costings were done for a new conventional cable lure system but GRV decided the project was unfeasible and made no alternate offer for a solution.
Aside from a notice on the GRV website, members have had little communication about their future, and this is also affecting the trainers in the area. The ongoing uncertainty of whether racing will resume has had a dire impact on the club.
The Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club has been a fixture of the Gippsland community since racing commenced at Glenview Park in 1973 and contributes enormously to the local economy. Millions of dollars have been spent on the facility to turn it into one of the premium facilities in Victoria, and it will be a travesty to lose this once-thriving asset just because it seems too hard to come up with a viable solution to an issue with the lure. Minister, will you commit to sitting down with the Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club for an honest discussion about the club’s future?
Extract from Hansard:
The member for Morwell did raise a matter for my good self in regard to the Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club, and I look forward to accepting his request to meet with the Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club. We may well also engage some further advice from Greyhound Racing Victoria, particularly about the racing efforts that we would like to see picked up and proceeding again at Traralgon. They do great work there. As people would know right across the state of Victoria, the greyhound sport provides some $643 million in economic activity right across Victoria and 4700 effective full-time jobs across the state for families and so many people who are engaged in providing for not just the industry of greyhound racing but the sport of greyhound racing. It has a great tradition that provides great opportunities for people to get involved and engaged. I will be very pleased to catch up with the member and the Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club to see where we can take things next to progress the volunteer efforts and the great work that the club is doing. I will be very pleased to do that.
I was recently with the member for Morwell when we opened the $3 million redevelopment of the Moe Racing Club – just staying on racing for a moment – a $1 million investment from the Allan Labor government, and $2 million is a magnificent effort from the Moe Racing Club. While we are touching just there on thoroughbred racing, we should note that nearly $90 million in economic activity in the Latrobe region alone and some 700 jobs across the Latrobe Valley and the Latrobe region come from thoroughbred racing. When you add that to the significant work and the opportunities that are provided through greyhound racing and the sport across the valley, that is a very significant sport and a significant industry. I am very keen to catch up with a strong advocate for racing across all its codes, the member for Morwell.