Greyhound racing ban: Winston Peters digs in for battle – but horse racing safe

Winston Peters: "Sometimes decisions in politics are really difficult." Photo / Mark Mitchell

Racing Minister Winston Peters says there will be no reversal of his decision to ban greyhound racing but the closure of the sport should not be of concern to New Zealand’s two horse racing codes.

Peters announced in December that greyhound racing will be banned here from July next year. While similar bans, most notably in New South Wales, have been abandoned before implementation, Peter says that will not happen here.

Speaking on Trackside Televison’s Guerin Report show on Monday night, Peters again outlined the reasons for his decision and how he is aware of a potential legal challenge from Greyhound Racing New Zealand (GRNZ).

“I have just heard they [GRNZ] are going to take me on, possibly in court. Well, let’s see,” Peters said.

“Because I am not having an ego contest here. I am concerned as a dog lover, while there are some responsible ones [people], there are too many events which are inexplicable, not satisfactory.”

He said the decision to ban dog racing was his, which he then shared with other political parties but it was not part of any agreement to appease them.

“There is no politics in it [the decision]. There is a lot of unhappy in it,” Peters said.

“Sometimes decisions in politics are really difficult.

“There is no pleasure in it, it is the worst thing you have got to face but you have to do it.

“As much as we have tried, this is not acceptable or excusable, the level of injury and serious injury. The absence of material information, or no records of a dog going missing.

“Difficult as it was, having been a supporter of the industry in the past, we went across the political divide and asked others: ‘We have got to do something here; what do you think?’

“They all agreed. Parliament unanimously voted for this.

“Our job is to rehome these dogs and 2900 will be rehomed.”

While greyhound racing’s demise looks increasingly certain, Peters said New Zealand’s two horse racing codes, thoroughbred and harness racing, have no reasons to fear similar bans or restrictions.

“There are some people, you will never satisfy them. They would stop everything if they could,” he said, addressing the activists seeking to ban horse racing.

“They know nothing about animals and nothing about horses.

“Horses will race in the middle of the night, whether you like it or not.

“In every wild circumstance or free circumstance, a horse will go for a run.

“Over thousands and thousands of years, there has been this magnificent connection between men and woman and horses.

“It is almost one of the most unique connections there is. That has always been the case.

“So we do not think it is the same as the dogs in that context.”

Peters said while horse racing’s future is secure, the New Zealand racing industry needs to modernise.

“It is no longer racing or any other sport, it is entertainment.”

Legislation to restrict overseas betting operators from taking bets from inside New Zealand was on track to be passed by May.

When passed, it will trigger a $100 million payment to the New Zealand TAB, to be distributed to racing and sporting organisations, from Entain, which is in a 25-year deal to run the TAB’s day-to-day operations.

“We discussed it with other parties across the political divide and said we are not here to do anything but get the industry to its maximum returns and get the industry to being a major contributor to the economy,” Peters said in explaining the impending legislative net.

Peters is in his third stint as Racing Minister, the first having seen significant boosts to major carnivals to attraction international attention, while his second time in the role saw the commissioning of the Messara Report and financial assistance to build three synthetic racetracks, which are now a crucial part of the racing landscape, particularly in winter.

But he doesn’t sound like a minister keen to hand over the reins of racing any time soon.

“The world has changed dramatically. This country seriously needs experience in politics,” Peters said.

“There are far too many people in there who haven’t been there long enough.

“They don’t realise how a decision should be arrived at.

“Experience matters like nothing else before.

“I want to be out there and getting stuck in as hard as I can and being involved as much as I can.

“I actually enjoy it.”

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.