Caleb Bond: Racing operates year round and employs thousands of people but gets little Government support

The State Government has ripped money out of the horse racing industry and so far refused to give it a cut of the exorbitant tax with which punters are hit, Caleb Bond writes.

One would be mistaken for thinking the State Government wants the South Australian racing industry to fall apart.

Far from being the supporter of racing you might expect the Liberal Party to be, this Government has instead ripped money out of the industry and so far refused to give it a cut of the exorbitant tax with which punters are hit.

It’s a strange move for the Liberals, whose biggest supporters and donors in the movers-and-shakers circles of SA are predominantly invested in thoroughbred racing.

But racing has just as much support in working-class ranks – the punters who do the form and watch horses like proud parents would watch their children in a junior footy match.

The first bone of contention is that SA punters are hit with a 15 per cent Point Of Consumption tax – the highest in the country. Not a single cent of that money flows back to the racing industry, unlike interstate where proceeds of the tax support racing.

The other is that while other sports receive significant Government funding, racing stands almost entirely on its own two feet – running events all across the state multiple days a week.

The Government last year ripped $3 million out of racing when it pulled its sponsorship of the Adelaide Festival of Racing. As a result, the formerly million-dollar Goodwood and Robert Sangster Stakes races have had their prize money reduced to $750,000 and $600,000 respectively. We are now the only state without a $1 million thoroughbred race.

Horse racing operates year round and employs thousands of people. But it gets little support from the Government, Caleb Bond writes. Picture: AAP / Mark Brake

Meanwhile, tens of millions of taxpayer dollars are spent on short events each year like the Tour Down Under and the Adelaide 500 – both of which I enjoy. But they only provide short-term employment and economic boosts.

Racing operates year round and employs thousands of people. But it gets little support from the Government. It gets little funding for its racecourses. It is in no way a burden on the taxpayer.

The POC tax has discouraged bookies from promoting SA races because our tax is higher than anywhere else. They instead encourage punters to look interstate, which has resulted in revenue to the SA racing industry falling.

The industry is now facing a possible $8 million loss next year – a far cry from just a couple of years ago when it was growing by nearly 10 per cent.

Jockeys and trainers are already moving interstate because we are no longer a competitive market. Many people within the Government have privately expressed their support for racing and Premier Steven Marshall isn’t entirely off side, either. The biggest issue for racing is Treasurer Rob Lucas – who is worried about achieving his promised surplus.

Industry heavyweights are astounded by the lack of sympathy Lucas, and by extension the Government, have shown to their cause. It’s not the Liberals they expected they would have to fight over funding.

Lucas has repeatedly blamed the former Labor government for introducing the POC tax. And yes, they did. But they’ve been in Government for more than a year now and have done nothing about it.

If you don’t want to reduce the tax because the money is filling a black hole in the budget, then just tell us. If you don’t want to return some of that $16 million tax take to the industry because you don’t care about racing, just tell us.

It’s a cop out to keep blaming the other side for doing things you have the ability to change. Lash them, then lead by example.

So incensed by the whole palaver is Thoroughbred Racing SA chairwoman Frances Nelson that she has resigned as chair of Racing Australia to focus on the fight at home.

Nelson is a formidable woman – and someone with whom I would not want to pick a fight. She won’t go quietly. But if that’s the road this Government wants to go down, it’ll soon find out.

The Government has a chance to reverse the position in next month’s budget.

If it doesn’t, it risks killing thousands of jobs and a sport with more than a century of rich heritage in this state.

If it thinks it can win this battle, it is sorely mistaken.