Tasmania’s thoroughbred racing industry is at risk of collapse without a new long-term funding deed before Christmas, 50 leading breeders, owners, trainers and jockeys have warned.
The group has written to Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Racing Minister Roger Jaensch, urging the government to honour its commitment and release a new funding deed for Tasracing before the summer racing carnival.
The current 20-year deed, which funds the state’s racing industry, expires in 2029, but the group says the uncertainty is already affecting investment decisions.
Leading breeder Bart McCulloch said the industry faced an existential threat.
“The funding deed underpins the viability of racing in Tasmania,” he said.
McCulloch said the deed was introduced after the government sold the Tote, which had given the industry a reliable source of revenue.
“We are preparing for February’s yearling sales without knowing what kind of racing industry those horses will enter when they are ready to compete,” he said.
He said breeders were deciding now how many yearlings to take to the sales and what prices to set, while buyers were making long-term investments without knowing what the industry would look like from 2029.
“No serious industry can operate under that level of uncertainty,” he said.
“The Tasmanian government needs to take the politics out of racing and give the thousands of Tasmanians employed by our industry the certainty they deserve.”
Tasmanian Thoroughbred Alliance Chair Andrew Scanlon said the government’s 100-day plan included a commitment to finalise the deed and participants wanted that promise delivered.
“The government knows this needs to be resolved, but we are concerned the deed is becoming caught up in the debate about greyhound racing and the government’s budget pressures,” he said.
“Our industry and the thousands of Tasmanians it supports, must not be used as pawns in a broader political debate.”
The government plans to end greyhound racing in Tasmania by June 30, 2029, when the current funding deed expires.
“No one wants Tasmanian thoroughbred racing to be the next industry at risk,” Scanlon said.
He said the industry wanted binding long-term terms rather than short-term extensions or further delays, funding indexed over time, a fair and growing share of revenue for participants and separate funding for regulation, integrity, compliance and animal welfare.
Scanlon said the spring racing carnivals in Melbourne and Sydney showed “what a thriving racing industry can offer”.
“But participants need the confidence to invest, employ and grow,” he said.
“They cannot do that while the industry’s future funding remains unresolved.”
He said more than 10,000 Tasmanians had engaged with the industry’s No Deed = No Future online campaign in its first week.
“The message is simple: finalise and release the funding deed before Christmas,” he said.
“Don’t let Tassie racing be the next great Tasmanian pastime to fall.”
The industry says thoroughbred racing is worth $100 million to the Tasmanian economy.
