The Baird government "has confirmed a backdown of its ban on greyhound racing" in New South Wales following a "sustained campaign of media and industry pressure," according to FAIRFAX MEDIA. The "dramatic backflip comes despite Premier Mike Baird's repeated claims that the decision was final" and a matter of principle and it was "locked in" that the industry would be shutdown on July 1. Baird has "faced immense pressure from the Opposition," media outlets and the industry since the announcement, with expectations of a "large swing against the government" at the Nov. 12 Orange by-election. Cabinet met on Tuesday morning to "discuss dumping the plan," with its decision emerging shortly before 10:30am. It was expected that the cabinet "would consider a range of options encompassing significant elements of a plan put forward by the industry." Among them "was expected to be proposals to implement a controlled breeding program, total life-cycle management for greyhounds," including those unable to race and life bans for animal cruelty, including live baiting (FAIRFAX MEDIA, 10/11). ABC NEWS' Glanville & Gerathy reported Baird said that he "ditched a ban on greyhounds" because he "got it wrong" and believes the majority of the community "wants the industry to have a second chance." He said that "while the community was rightly horrified by the findings, they also wanted the industry to be given one more chance." He "brushed off suggestions that polls had shown a majority of people in New South Wales supported the ban" and he was actually listening to a vocal minority. Baird: "So it's clear in hindsight as we reflect on this we got it wrong -- I got it wrong, the Cabinet got it wrong, the Government got it wrong." NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley, "who has been lobbying for the ban to be reversed," said that Baird's credibility was "in tatters." He said, "Let's be honest, Mr. Baird has preached at us all for three months, he's a lay preacher who told us that greyhound racing was morally evil activity that he'd rub out. And today the mother of all backflips." Greyhound Breeders, Owners & Trainers Association CEO Brenton Scott said that the industry was committed to reform, including "zero tolerance" of animal cruelty. He said, "We need to put our greyhounds first" (ABC NEWS, 10/11).
REFORMS COMING: The BBC reported Baird said on Tuesday that the government "did not give the good people in the industry the chance to respond, a chance to reform." Instead, a number of reforms will be put in place to "tighten welfare standards, including reducing the number of tracks and dogs bred for racing plus tougher animal cruelty penalties." Baird's approval ratings "have declined from 61% to 39% since December and his policy reversal follows months of political upheaval since the state-wide ban was announced in July" (BBC, 10/11). In Sydney, Hutchinson & King reported in the greyhound racing backblocks of central NSW, Baird’s "humiliating backdown" may have brought relief "but forgiveness has not yet been won." For Cameron Hallinan, who works in his family’s greyhound business outside Orange, the reversal marks the end of a "living nightmare." There was "relief, too, within state cabinet," after ministers signed off the decision (THE AUSTRALIAN, 10/12).
