Why Queensland Goverment should resist any urge to announce funding for lights at Magic Millions race day

Opinion: The Queensland Government needs to resist the temptation to announce the funding for lights at the Gold Coast Turf Club on Magic Millions day. Here is why.

THE Queensland Government needs to resist the temptation to announce the funding for lights at the Gold Coast Turf Club on Magic Millions day.

It’s the biggest day of racing in Queensland annually and traditionally, those are the days you want to bolster the goodwill by using a captive audience to celebrate a political win.

But there is just one problem.

The bushfires ravaging Australia right now are rightly in the forefront of people’s minds, with celebrities - including international stars - joining locals to raise funds to rebuild the lives of those who have been affected while firefighters work tirelessly on the frontline.

Gold Coast Turf Club night racing

What won’t sit well with the average person, many who are already livid at certain levels of government at all levels, is telling the world you are giving $8 million to get the GCTC lights, or even the entire $28 million they have planned to get out of treasury for the club’s historic revamp.

It doesn’t mean the revamp shouldn’t happen. The club should rightly have already been given the green light and have the money in their accounts ready to launch the exciting development.

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It just doesn’t need to happen right now. They could even confirm the funding but announce it once the nation overcomes the fire crisis, it doesn’t change the completion date.

Racing has come under fire in recent years, and late last year with the documentary showing racehorses being slaughtered.

It doesn’t need to tempt fate and provoke unwanted criticism during a carnival that has been so great for the city.