Baird's Ban On Greyhounds Could Face Constitutional Challenge

New South Wales Premier Mike Baird’s ban on greyhound racing "is vulnerable to a constitutional challenge ­because key elements of the industry operate across state borders," according to Samantha Hutchinson of THE AUSTRALIAN. Legal experts "believe training and breeding programs in NSW that service the industry in other states could be allowed to continue under section 92 of the commonwealth Constitution." Constitutional lawyer George Williams said that "the parts of the ban that had an impact on interstate trade could be considered unconstitutional." The emergence of the legal advice "could encourage federal MPs, who are furious at the Baird government over the ban, to pressure Malcolm Turnbull and Barnaby Joyce to intervene in a court case" being launched on Tuesday by the NSW Greyhound Breeders Owners and Trainers Association. NSW MPs "opposed to the ban have already taken the issue to federal counterparts in a bid to halt implementation of the ban from July 1 next year" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/20).