ANALYSIS: Racing Minister Grace Grace must make anticipated review into QRIC public
With their backs against the wall in the looming state election, Racing Minister Grace Grace is being coy about what she will do with the review into QRIC and it simply isn’t good enough.
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Racing Minister Grace Grace is remaining tight-lipped on what she will do with the highly anticipated KPMG review into the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission.
The one thing she must do, however, is make it public for the racing industry to see for themselves.
Asked by Racenet during the week if she would make the review public, Grace was noncommittal.
“The KPMG review has considered feedback across a wide range of QRIC matters and a report is anticipated soon,” a spokeswoman from her office said.
“The Queensland Government will need time to consider the recommendations before releasing any further details about the review.”
• ‘Culture and management’: KPMG review into QRIC begins
The inner workings of QRIC has become a highly contentious topic for many in the industry, fed up with the layers of bureaucracy and added cost that come with it.
Workplace culture has also become a talking point, with up to 70 full-time staff quitting the Commission since 2022.
Their ham-fisted attempt to cut race day vets and swab sample collection officers earlier this year in order to save money was met with widespread bewilderment and ultimately played a role in former Deputy Commissioner Natalie Conner resigning from her post and even put stewards off-side.
It is fitting the aborted attempt to cut corners happened during the KPMG review period, which kicked off in January.
With Grace part of a State Government facing defeat in a looming state election, racing risks being treated as a political football in an attempt to win votes.
Grace announced she was putting the state’s embattled integrity body under the microscope in December after months of discontent from industry in an attempt to quell the growing noises.
Will she be reluctant to rock the boat too much with widespread changes before an election, despite the growing lack of confidence in commissioner Shane Gillard?
• Doomben abandoned after rain hammers Brisbane
QRIC plays too large a role in the sport which employs thousands and tips in millions of dollars of taxes to be playing political games with.
It is now incumbent on the Minister to follow through and make the review, which has interviewed a wide range of current former employees and participants, public for the world to see.
NO RESCHEDULING
Saturday’s abandoned meeting at Doomben will not be rescheduled as southeast Queensland faces a track crunch.
With the brand new, but already embattled Gold Coast track put off line until at least April 27, the Brisbane Racing Club were unable to move Saturday’s washed out Doomben meeting to Eagle Farm as it was undergoing renovations.
Officials explored trying to push the meeting to Sunday or Monday, but deemed it no plausible.
Two races will be added to the Wednesday meeting at Doomben in order to accommodate a fraction of those lost on Saturday, however a log jam of horses will still remain.
Originally published as ANALYSIS: Racing Minister Grace Grace must make anticipated review into QRIC public
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