A "stunning attack" from Australian Racing Board CEO Peter McGauran in response to the Australian Jockeys' Association's pursuit of superannuation payments "has set the scene for a potentially messy legal battle," according to Michael Sharkie of THE AGE. McGauran said that the AJA was ''holding a gun to the head of racing authorities'' by pursuing potential retrospective superannuation claims. He called the AJA ''cowardly'' and "threatened legal action" if the association pursued retrospective superannuation entitlements. McGauran's outburst "shocked" AJA Chair Ross Inglis, who "denied the claim that the AJA sought to impose any sort of financial strain on the racing industry, explaining the association merely sought to clarify the entitlements of its members in relation to superannuation with the Tax Office." Inglis said, ''We have never asked for retrospectivity, we've simply asked the question of the ATO as to what our members are entitled to and we're still waiting on a decision paper from them'' (THE AGE, 1/7). In Sydney, Brendan Cormick reported the AJA "might be able to seek" A$60M ($54M) and, theoretically, the "racing authorities could pay." McGuaran said, "The clause states whoever pays the jockey is deemed to be the employer. On the plain reading of it, the principal racing authorities in each state are the employers. When you take into account that we don't engage jockeys, we don't instruct them, we don't rehire or dismiss them, we cannot be the employer" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 1/7).
