Juliana ADDISON (Wendouree) (10:28:468:): I am very pleased to rise today to support the Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022, which will further ensure the safety of Victoria’s racing events – especially in my electorate of Wendouree, which is home to Ballarat Greyhound Racing Club and Ballarat & District Trotting Club in Redan. This bill will also benefit the Ballarat Turf Club, located a stone’s throw from my electorate, in Ripon, and I wish to congratulate the newly elected member for Ripon. I look forward to working together to achieve more great outcomes for our region.

I am thrilled to be the first government speaker to talk on this, because I am a big supporter of the racing industry. I am a member of the Ballarat Turf Club. I am a member of the Ballarat & District Trotting Club, and I am really pleased to follow the member for Ovens Valley. I was nodding in agreement with the contribution that you were making –

Tim McCurdy: That is a change.

Juliana ADDISON: It is a change – about how important this industry is to regional Victoria. It is important to my electorate, and we are hearing how important it is to Wangaratta and the Ovens Valley. So, yes, it is commonsense reform, and I am delighted that the opposition is supporting this bill.

I would like to start today by congratulating the Minister for Racing for this legislation as well as the good work that he is doing with this portfolio, and I really hope that the minister can come and join me in Ballarat before too long to witness some of our truly fantastic regional racing events and to meet our local CEOs, our board members, our trainers, our club members and of course the incredible staff that play such an important role in making a day at the races such a great day. I would also like to thank the minister’s office, and I thank the people who are here today, particularly Vic, who is working very closely with and is always a great support to my office. Thanks so much, Vic, for being here today. It is very important that when you bring any legislation to this place you undertake extensive stakeholder engagement, and that is what the minister’s office has done and that is what the department has done.

I am grateful for those who have contributed their expertise and their experience, because this bill has included feedback and insights from Racing Victoria, Harness Racing Victoria and Greyhound Racing Victoria – people that I have spent a bit of time with at different race meetings over the years, good people who care about racing and care about the welfare of the animals that race, so I am really pleased. These changes that will be implemented, if this bill passes, I know are going to make a real difference to my local clubs and to the local industry.

It is interesting that the member for Ovens Valley also talked about racing being a part of our social fabric, because it is. Racing is such an important part of our social history of this state – from champions like Phar Lap, who drew the huge crowds to Flemington, giving hope to Victorians during the Depression, to more recent times when champion Winx won four consecutive Cox Plates – just amazing. This horse captured our hearts and our interest and was just such a champion. There are not many other places in the world that have a public holiday for a race meet, and I think that is something that we should all be very proud of. But then again there are not many places in the world that have a race meet like the Melbourne Cup. Not only is it a race that stops a nation, it is a truly global horserace. It also resonates very locally. My mum holds the family sweep – the winner takes home $25. She rings everyone in the family, it is handwritten, she then takes photos of what horse you have got and as soon as the results are out, she is texting everyone – at 81 she is all over this. It is also great walking down Sturt Street on the first Tuesday in November. You will be seeing the fascinators, you will walk into shops and people will have the floral arrangements.

Cindy McLeish interjected.

Juliana ADDISON: Sorry, Cindy, I am sure you wear a fascinator to work on cup day.

A member interjected.

Juliana ADDISON: Exactly. There is so much excitement at around 3 o’clock on that race day, and it is really important to local communities. It is no secret that Victoria is proudly the pre-eminent racing jurisdiction in Australia, and there is a good reason for that: the racing industry contributes $4.7 billion in economic activity to Victoria and sustains almost 35,000 full-time equivalent jobs. As a proud regional Victorian I am delighted that 9000 of these full-time equivalent jobs are in regional Victoria and that over $1 billion of economic activity is generated within regional Victoria through our racing industry.

It is imperative that our government continues to support our racing clubs and helps them ensure the safety and wellbeing of all racing patrons and participants, and it is especially important to name workplace safety for the racing industry employees, such as stewards and jockeys, and also for our horses and dogs. There are several areas of a racecourse which are in practice off limits to the general public during a race meeting or a trial meeting. As the member for Ovens Valley explained, under the Major Events Act 2009 participants in this area, including animals, are protected but only during the eight specific spring carnival events. Racing in Victoria is so much more than just the spring carnival. Just to give you an example, there will be 215 race meetings held in Ballarat across our six racecourses over a year. The Major Events Act only covers eight races in Melbourne when there are 215 races in my region that deserve protection, and those workers do deserve that protection as well.

Stupid and dangerous behaviour, such as running onto a track during a race, is thankfully rare, but when it occurs the potential consequences are severe. That is why this bill, the Racing Amendment (Unauthorised Access) Bill 2022, intends to extend similar protections to those already in place under the Major Events Act to now cover all race and trial meetings across the state. It does this by amending the Racing Act 1958, detailing the requisite offences as well as enforcement protocols and penalties. The proposed offences cover (1) unauthorised entry into restricted racing areas as well as disrupting a race or trial meeting from within a restricted area, (2) throwing or kicking a projectile in a restricted area or causing an object to fly in and (3) climbing a fence or barricade which separates a restricted area. These offences include commonsense exceptions and defences so commonplace and emergency activities will not be impacted. Areas which would be restricted are also in practice already inaccessible to the public during an event – for example, tracks, parade rings, stables and kennels.

This bill will also provide for enforcement of the new provisions by police officers, if present, or suitable persons appointed as authorised officers, such as race day stewards. There are practical arrangements informed by extensive consultation with the industry, and in instances when offending is repeated or its consequences are significant, the bill provides for courts to impose bans and orders of up to five years applying to specific meetings or meeting categories.

This bill does not affect the enjoyment of racegoers and does not prevent protests in public areas; rather, it provides strong deterrents to dangerous behaviours in off limits working areas – deterrents that are already in place, as I said, at other major sporting events. These amendments will protect the health and safety of participants, patrons, officials and animals during the many events held in Victoria, Australia’s pre-eminent racing state.

The social impact of the racing industry is also significant. It supports the good work of over 1200 charities, and hundreds of community and not-for-profit organisations benefit from the use of racing facilities. These clubs are key facilities for local communities. I know my former school still have their year 12 dinner at the local trotting club and there are weddings at the local greyhounds and stuff like that, so it does provide an important social space for people to celebrate important events. That is why it is also important that we make sure that our racing industry can support local communities.

I would really like to thank all the CEOs in Ballarat. CEO Belinda Glass from the Ballarat Turf Club and her great team put on a great show. The Ballarat Cup is the last race of the Spring Racing Carnival in November each year; you are all invited to come. Manager of Ballarat greyhounds Jodie Faralla – I look forward to catching up with you soon. And of course the CEO at the Ballarat & District Trotting Club Paul Rouse and the board, David Young and all the team, thank you very much for the important work you do. I look forward to catching up with you, because what you do is so important for my community. I commend the bill to the house.

Watch and read more of my speeches to Parliament here, including responses from ministers on how we’re working for Wendouree.

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