Jim Rundle, President, Queensland Trainers Association attended a meeting in Brisbane yesterday to discuss ways for the racing industry to progress and move forward whilst at the same time living within a budget framework supported by current income streams.
Racing Queensland acting CEO, Ian Hall convened the meeting at Eagle Farm with members of RQ management team in attendence along with a group of other industry representatives. These included, Cameron Partington (ATA – Qld branch), Basil Nolan (TBAQ), Kerrina King (QROA), Vin Cox (MM), Dave Whimpy (BRC), Glen Prentice (QJA) and Michael Charge (TTC).
Ian Hall presented the current financial position of Racing Queensland, outlining the less than budgeted returns from betting turnover over the past 12 months.
Whilst factors such as the redevelopment of Eagle Farm and Townsville tracks may have contributed to this lower turnover there is also widespread concern at the percveived inability of UBET to compete effectively in the current marketplace.
Jim was particularly encouraged by the tone of the meeting which seemed to focus on looking for ways to grow our industry in a cost effective manner rather than a “slash and burn” approach which many doomsayers in the Brisabne based media scrum have been intent on peddling over recent weeks.
Whilst discussions are still in a preliminary phase, smaller working groups were formed to provide feedback on what the industry could possibly live without to provide some savings and what could be improved to provide a more efficient process.
No final decisons have been made but suffice to say there seemed to be some concensus that the industy could still prosper without a $2 million Stradbroke and there could be some fine tuning of future QTIS prizemoney allocation which would not overly detract from it’s key objectives.
Other subjects discussed included a possible return to Tuesday racing and perhaps some country clubs being granted TAB status for selected Sunday meetings etc.
Overall Jim felt that the consultation process started off in a very positive way and it didn’t appear that decisons have already been set in concrete.
All industry participants will be able to make comment in the near future by following the links for “consultation process” on the Racing Queensland web site.
This is an opportunity for all and it is hoped that people from all over the state will provide feedback for Ian Hall and the Racing Minister , Bill Byrne to incorporate into their overall understanding of the whole industry.