Gold Coast racing: Night racing ‘clearly won’t be at Gold Coast Turf Club by 2020’

Night racing on the Gold Coast was meant to begin next year. But a shocking admission by the state’s racing boss reveals it’s much further away than anyone anticipated.

THE State Government’s plan to introduce night racing on the Gold Coast by 2020 and have it beamed into Asia is stuck in the starting gates.

Seven months ago, Racing Queensland (RQ) told the Bulletin it had allocated $28 million for new training facilities and lights at the Gold Coast Turf Club and hoped work would start this year.

However, in a stunning admission yesterday, the state’s racing boss admitted a business case had not even been completed.

NIGHT RACING SET FOR COAST TURF CLUB

Racing Qld CEO Brendan Parnell at the Gold Coast Turf Club. Picture Glenn Hampson

RQ CEO Brendan Parnell said night racing on the Glitter Strip was still “subject to government funding”. If approved, the industry “might be able to deliver it by 2021”.

The office of Racing Minister Stirling Hinchliffe referred questions to RQ. Asked if he would comment personally as minister, the Bulletin was told he was on leave and would not be responding.

The delay has infuriated LNP Shadow Minister for Racing John-Paul Langbroek, who said Labor had failed to keep its promise and that it “did not support racing on the Coast”.

He said RQ’s Annual Report 2017/18 stated delivering night racing by 2020 was a key performance indicator.

WHEN COAST NIGHT RACING WILL BEGIN

Gold Coast Turf Club chairman Brett Cook. Photo by Richard Gosling

“With under five months until the (2020) deadline and little progress being made it’s clear that Labor will fail to keep their promise,” he said.

“While Labor has been at the helm, we have seen unprecedented strikes, the Gold Coast Turf Club’s major sponsor, Aquis, withdrew from Queensland racing, and major issues with integrity and safety have arisen.”

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Mr Langbroek’s comments come as RQ is involved in a Supreme Court legal battle with Tabcorp over $40 million in betting taxes.

Night racing was considered a new frontier for the Gold Coast. Coverage was expected to be beamed into gambling-mad Asia, given the favourable time difference, and provide a new dimension to the city’s tourism offerings.

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John-Paul Langbroek, Member for Surfers Paradise. Photo: Steve Pohlner

Gold Coast Turf Club chairman Brett Cook yesterday urged the State Government to press on with the introduction of night racing, although that “clearly won’t be at the turf club by 2020”.

He said the club was also waiting for badly needed upgrades to the club’s training tracks and the racetrack itself.

“The lights section has been delayed, no doubt about that. We haven’t got anything set in concrete,” he said.

Mr Cook said RQ advised a business case would be submitted “in the last quarter of this year to Treasury”.

Mr Parnell was adamant night racing was “still a central part of Racing Queensland’s strategy and Gold Coast will play a key role in that”.

DEVASTATED TRAINER REVEALS DETAILS BEHIND SHOCK DEATH OF RACER

He said the 2020 date highlighted by Mr Langbroek was part of “an old infrastructure plan” and “we’ve got a revised infrastructure plan”.

However, when asked about the turf club in a Bulletin interview in late December, Mr Parnell said: “We are hoping to begin work in 2019, potentially in the early stages of the year, on the training tracks and lights. All going well it could be completed by 2020.”

Yesterday, he said: “We need government funding. So we’re preparing a business case to apply to the government for funding for the project. That’s expected to be lodged in coming months, this side of Christmas, so that construction can commence next year.”

When asked about delays, Mr Parnell said: “We’d all like things to be built quicker than they can be. But when you’ve got a project worth tens of millions of dollars, and a finite amount of government money to do that, you’ve got to get it right.

“(The funding) includes new training tracks and also includes a rebuild on the main racetrack.”

Mr Parnell said geotechnical surveys had been done and turf had been trialled.

Gold Coast City Council approved the installation of lights at the Gold Coast Turf Club in June last year.