Tasmania’s racing industry has ramped up its push for a new long-term funding deed, warning its three major cup carnivals could decline for years if the state government does not deliver the full deed before Christmas.
The No Deed = No Future campaign says the uncertainty puts the Summer Racing Carnival at risk, along with the regional communities that depend on the Devonport, Hobart and Launceston Cups.
More than 10,000 people went to the 2025 Launceston Cup and around 5,500 attended this year’s Devonport Cup, the campaign said. It expects Launceston Cup week alone to draw around 14,000 people.
Tasmanian Thoroughbred Alliance chair Andrew Scanlon said the future of the events depended on investment decisions being made now.
“The crowds, horses and quality racing we see on Cup Day do not appear overnight,” he said.
“They are the result of breeding, buying, training and investment decisions made years earlier.
“If confidence disappears today, the consequences will be seen in smaller fields, fewer locally bred horses and weaker Cup carnivals for years to come.”
The industry sees the Tasmanian Yearling Sale at Carrick on February 15 as the critical point if no deed is in place. This year’s sale generated $2.85 million.
Breeder Bart McCulloch said uncertainty would affect both buyers and vendors.
“Without a binding deed by Christmas, fewer horses will be offered at the February sales, fewer may be sold and buyers will be more cautious about what they are prepared to pay,” he said.
“Once those horses and that investment are lost, they cannot simply be replaced.”
The campaign said racing generated $207.5 million a year in value-added economic activity and sustained 1,735 full-time-equivalent jobs. Around 40% of that economic contribution benefits regional Tasmania, it said.
Scanlon said a draft document or another short-term extension would not give the industry the certainty it needed.
He said the industry wanted a binding long-term deed with indexed funding, a fair share of industry revenue and separate funding for integrity, regulation and animal welfare.
“No deed means no confidence,” he said. “No confidence means fewer horses. Fewer horses mean weaker carnivals, fewer visitors and less economic activity in Tasmanian communities.”
The current 20-year deed expires in 2029.
Last week, Racing Minister Roger Jaensch said the government would deliver a draft deed by the end of the year.
In a statement on Sunday in response to the latest push from the industry, Jaensch said the draft was still on track to be delivered before the end of the year.
“We will ensure the industry has the certainty it needs ahead of the yearling sale,” he said.
The minister said the government and Tasracing were “working closely on these matters” and the issue had been included in the government’s next 100-day plan because it was the “number one issue for the industry”.
Asked when a final, binding deed would be signed, he said providing for a “vibrant racing industry post 2029” was included in the next 100 days of delivery.
On the industry’s call for separate funding for integrity, regulation and welfare, Jaensch said “any current and future funding will reflect that integrity and animal welfare will be the bedrock on which the Tasmanian racing industry thrives in the future”.
