Independent Huon MLC Dean Harriss will back the bill to phase out greyhound racing in Tasmania, but only if the compensation package is increased.
Harriss said the Eslake report made a “compelling case” that taxpayer support for the industry was delivering diminishing returns, given the “shocking state of the government books and … strong public opposition to a continuation of funding”.
In a statement, Harriss said the current $4.8 million compensation offer did not go far enough.
“The current offer on a per capita basis is less than half of the proposed compensation offered to the New Zealand industry following the decision to ban greyhound racing there,” he said.
The industry had sought $125 million.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff rejected that figure and confirmed $4.8 million in the upcoming budget to help participants “exit the industry with dignity”.
Harriss said Tasmanians in the industry had been encouraged to invest right up to the moment the decision was reversed.
“The premier wrote to the industry two days before the 2025 election promising to back every job in all three racing codes,” he said.
“Three weeks later, he announced a countdown to prohibition. The industry hadn’t changed. What changed was the arithmetic of minority government.”
Harriss said any shutdown had to meet the standard Rockliff himself set during the forestry restructure.
“If parliament decides to support the industry shutdown, then compensation must be fair and reasonable to allow those affected to exit with dignity,” he said.
The bill would end greyhound racing by June 30, 2029 and ban breeding immediately. It cleared the House of Assembly in December.
The government pulled the bill from Legislative Council debate last week after conceding it did not have the numbers.
Debate is expected to resume in mid-May.
Harriss, who is currently up for re-election in the upper house seat of Huon, is among the independents whose votes will decide the outcome.
Other candidates, including independent Clare Glade-Wright and the Greens’ Paul Gibson, support phasing out the industry and the current compensation offer on the table.
Labor candidate Abby McKibben supports the continuation of greyhound racing, while independent candidates Tyler Petersen and Michael Rowan have not publicly stated a position.
