Racing NSW has won "further concessions from Racing Minister Troy Grant in its ongoing battle to get what it considers to be a workable model for tax parity" with Victoria, according to Chris Roots of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The state budget revealed the government's "commitment to parity but the racing industry is concerned" that "no legislation was attached to the announcement." Also, "the power to distribute the additional funds made available through parity would rest with the racing minister" rather than the industry. The Racing NSW board wrote to Grant last week stating it "found it difficult to implement long-term strategies" due to the "year-by-year proposition subject to the economic circumstances and political vagaries which exist from time to time." In short, the letter said, there were "no guarantees for funding or that tax parity would be delivered other than a small box in the budget statement." Racing NSW Chair John Messara said that the "need for
structural change, as well as an increaser in prizemoney, had been
driven home to him at the Grafton Cup meeting last week." Messara: "Nearly
every trainer you talk to is saying we need help and without tax parity
we cannot implement our strategic plan were we have detailed our plan
for the future. We need certainty and the minister
understands that" (SMH, 7/12). In Sydney, Adam Pengilly reported NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley has warned Racing NSW's imminent tax parity relief should be geared toward "upgrading the state's ailing racing infrastructure -- rather than any automatic prizemoney top-ups." Foley, who made racing tax parity "one of his first election promises when ushered in as Labor leader earlier this year," is already advising that racing's inflated coffers should be "redirected to regional areas rather than ballooning autumn prizemoney levels." Foley: "Infrastructure is my top priority and spreading the benefits throughout the state is the top priority. This can't just be aimed at the top of the pyramid. Having said that I think The Championships in autumn are an important showcase for NSW racing" (SMH, 7/13).
