9 January 2024

Greens say racing should be turfed from Thoroughbred Park to build housing

| Ian Bushnell
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Telstra Tower in background of Thoroughbred Park racecourse

Winning position: Thoroughbred Park in Lyneham has prime housing potential. Photo: Zen Photography.

The ACT Greens have backed a much-needed housing development at Thoroughbred Park – but without the racetrack.

Ginninderra MLA Jo Clay said the Lyneham site was ideally located close to the city and light rail for a new residential precinct, something the Canberra Racing Club would agree with, given it has floated its own proposal for 3200 multi-unit homes, but with new stables and training facilities on the track infield and refreshed facilities for racegoers.

The club says the development plans are also vital to its long-term viability.

Ms Clay tied the Greens’ opposition to government support for the racing industry and horseracing in general with Canberra’s need for housing land, calling for a conversation about what could be developed on the entire site.

She said cities were looking at open spaces such as racecourses, historically located close to inner city areas, for potential sources of land for housing, citing Rosehill in Sydney and Eagle Farm in Brisbane.

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The NSW Government is considering a plan from the Australian Turf Club to develop 25,000 homes on the Rosehill site. This would be a commercial transaction where funds are returned to the racing industry.

Ms Clay said the racing industry, which the Greens oppose on animal cruelty grounds, had repeatedly said it could not continue in Canberra without government support, which it receives through a memorandum of understanding with the ACT Government worth more than $40 million between 2022 and 2027.

Greens MLA Jo Clay: “Proposals that have housing and recreational facilities and green space in them are a perfect fit for somewhere like [Thoroughbred Park].” Photo: Ian Bushnell.

She said sweetheart special funding deals such as this should stop and claimed the ACT public supported an end to government subsidies for horseracing.

“Looking at a housing crisis and an industry that says long term, they’re not viable, we would love to know what the Canberra community would like to see for that site,” Ms Clay said.

As chair of the Legislative Assembly planning committee, Ms Clay would not comment on any specific proposals, such as the Racing Club’s, but said Thoroughbred Park was “just one area that was primed for housing”.

“We need more housing, more affordable housing, more climate resilient housing, and these are perfect places to put it,” she said.

Ms Clay said it was important to look at these key sites on the city’s transport portals and ensure the community was getting the best outcomes for them.

Since running advertisements and Facebook posts on the issue, the Greens have received lots of ideas for Thoroughbred Park.

“I think proposals that have housing and recreational facilities and green space in them are a perfect fit for somewhere like that,” she said.

“We obviously would need to get a whole lot of community consultation and feedback about what is the best use of that land for Canberra. That’s more at a later stage of development. That’s why we need to start this conversation now.”

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Ms Clay committed to talking to all stakeholders despite advocating a phasing out of subsidies and horseracing in the ACT.

“If that industry is not viable, we need to start making plans and making sure we’ve got good transitions in place,” she said.

That may be presumptuous, though, given Chief Minister Andrew Barr’s assurances that the club could stay at Thoroughbred Park for as long as it wanted and the Canberra Liberals’ support for the industry.

The government supported the club’s development vision, which would also reduce the need for subsidies.

All ACT sporting organisations, including the big football franchises, receive government support in some form or another. Region understands the Greens have not approached the Canberra racing industry for consultation on their proposals at this stage.

Thoroughbred Park was approached for comment.

Special Minister of State Chris Steel said it was disappointing for the Greens to announce this proposal without consulting Labor or the Racing Club.

“The Government is already working with the Racing Club on the implementation of their master plan for the precinct, which includes additional housing,” he said.

“The Greens know that more housing can be accommodated on the existing site and include the club. It’s not a binary choice.”

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Daniel Wright4:16 pm 13 Nov 24

Building a residential development around a racecourse or racetrack area can have several potential challenges and concerns, depending on the specific location, zoning laws, and the nature of the racetrack. Here are some potential issues to consider:

1. Noise Pollution
Racing Noise: Racetracks are typically loud, especially during race events. The noise from cars, horses, or other racing activities can be disruptive to residents, particularly during evening or weekend events.
Constant Activity: Even when races are not taking place, there may still be regular noise from maintenance, training, or other activities associated with the track.
2. Air Pollution
Exhaust Emissions: If the racetrack hosts motorized events (e.g., car racing), there may be air pollution from vehicle exhaust, which could be detrimental to the health of residents, particularly if the area is densely populated.
Dust and Fumes: Horse racing tracks can also generate dust, and if it’s located in a dry area, the dust can be a problem for residents with respiratory issues.

Greens will also want if successful to remove all horse owning and riding in the ACT under their supposed cruelty charges. Be careful what you wish for.

This is not an ACT Government decision. It is purely a thought bubble by the ACT Greens.

The $40m is not a Government subsidy. The old ACT TAB used to pay the ACT Racing Club for access to the horse races and providing the races that their customers bet on. When the ACT Government sold the ACT TAB, after the Commonwealth Government gave them a grant to encourage them to sell it off, the ACT Government set up the Racing Industry Development Fund to continue these payments, in the absence of the ACT TAB.

Daniel Wright10:09 am 08 Aug 24

Racecourse should move to other place not for community dowelling place. It is not good for education and children. They are gambling people and drink a lot. It is very bad for community.

Gary Samuels9:46 am 19 Jan 24

Why don’t Ms Clay and the Greens tell the Canberra public the true story? The ACT Government does NOT support or subsidise the ACT thoroughbred racing industry. Rather, it is exactly the opposite. The ACT racing industry supports the ACT Government, as the latter retains far more from the Point Of Consumption Tax it collects from wagering on ACT racing across Australia than it returns to the generator of such revenue, the ACT racing industry. This additional consolidated revenue, used for community purposes, would not otherwise be available to the Government in the absence of the racing industry.

Daniel Wright10:08 am 08 Aug 24

Racecourse should move to other place not for community dowelling place. It is not good for education and children. They are gambling people and drink a lot. It is very bad for community.

Margaret Freemantle4:58 pm 12 Aug 24

And the employment Racing creates. The Greens are such hypocrites when they hold up land virtually across the road from being developed. Just a hate on racing about which they know nothing!!

Your statement is incorrect Gary, and shows a lack of understanding of how the Point of Consumption (POC) tax works.

The POC tax collects revenue from wagering on all racing across all of Australia by ACT residents – i.e. at the point of consumption of the ‘service’ (if one must call gambling that). It is not a tax levied solely on betting on ACT racing (i.e. the racing product provided by the ACT clubs).

The overwhelming amount of revenue raised by the POC is for betting by ACT residents on racing and/or sports events that occur elsewhere, outside of the ACT. I don’t know the latest figures, but I do know a few years ago, the % that was related to ACT racing was well below 10%.

As such, the ACT Government actually provides significantly more money to the clubs in direct Budget funding then they receive in POC Tax raised due to betting by ACT residents on ACT racing. In that sense – the clubs are being supported by the ACT Government to a significant degree. If the Budget funding was only on POC tax

In fact – the revenue raised through the Point of Consumption Tax related to betting on ACT racing is vastly smaller then what the clubs get in direct Budget funding from the ACT Government.

Your statement is incorrect.

Sorry I accidentally pressed submit before I’d finished editing.

The majority of POC tax revenue received by the ACT Government has nothing to do with betting on races run by the two ACT racing clubs. It is ACT residents betting on racing and sports interstate. Somewhere below 10% of total revenue relates to betting on ACT races by ACT residents (the POC tax after all is levied at point of consumption, not point of supply)

So the amount of POC tax revenue generated for the ACT Government by ACT racing is actually quite small – certainly only a small % of the amount outlaid to clubs as Budget funding. So your statement that additional consolidated revenue is generated by the ACT clubs is not actually true.

The additional consolidated revenue is generated by the ACT levying taxes on bets placed on racing and sporting events elsewhere.

In the absence of the racing industry here, the large majority of POC tax revenue would be unaffected, and it would be likely that ‘insert track somewhere else here’ would pick up the Canberra race dates anyway – so the actual impact on POC taxes would likely be fairly minimal, as there is little evidence to suggest any strong loyalty within ACT punters for betting on local racing over other racing products.

That isn’t an argument one way or the other about the ACT racing industry and whether it should exist – just a correction of a fairly significant misconception that has been bandied about a lot, and is effectively a falsehood.

100% agree with this decision. We as a community should not be giving 40 million dollars to the horse race industry to prop up a failing private company, that’s just stupid economics. If they can’t make a profit from this industry then they should pivot towards another and if that’s housing fantastic we have the tram to support the new suburb for transport and access to employment and with some clever urban design it could be a great place to live and play

Daniel Wright10:06 am 08 Aug 24

I totally agree to Troy.

Daniel Wright10:09 am 08 Aug 24

Racecourse should move to other place not for community dowelling place. It is not good for education and children. They are gambling people and drink a lot. It is very bad for community.

Green ideology writ large again with no basis in reality. Anytime a Greens mouthpiece announces one of their new good ideas you can be sure it’s closely tied with one of their many random non nonsensical ideologies e.g horse racing equals animal cruelty. Then anyone who doesn’t like the idea obviously supports animal cruelty and it to be labeled as a right wing Neo Nazi fascist should they think differently. As one of of the other comments alluded to, this would only be the tip of the iceberg as next would be EPIC for many and varied ideological reasons including Summmar Nats (anti car), Canberra Show (more animal cruelty), Music festivals (people having fun) and the list goes on. You can bet there would also be noise complaints from the new residents too, be it Summer Nats, Canberra Show, National Folk Festival, Groovin the Moo, etc.
The best bit was the revelation that despite the policy announcement there seems to have been no consultation with their ACT government partner nor any of the potentially affected parties, but they are keen to start the conversation and worry about details later!
Why do people continue to vote for this clown show? Oh that’s right, they didn’t as they are a bunch of unrepresentative oxygen thieves who the Labor Party jumped into bed with as they couldn’t get enough numbers to govern in their own right and now a very minor party has a disproportionate representation in the ACT Assembly. Apparently this is democracy at work.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have an ACT Government that represented all Canberra residents interests and ensured Canberra was indeed Australia’s capital rather than the basket case it seems have been in recent times. Ah, to dare to dream.

Really, you think that the labor party should spend 40 million dollars on propping up a failing horse racing track, that no one in Canberra hardly uses. Surely with all the money the gambling industry makes they should prop it up if we have to have a white elephant of a facility that’s not used let them pay for it, if not reuse the site for something more appropriate for the community.

They make more than that through gambling taxes. The 40mil is what they return.

If that development goes ahead any potential residents should be made aware of the several noisy events held at EPIC every year and sign a waiver saying that they accept that noise and they will NEVER complain about noise coming from any annual events that are already held there.

As in take responsibility for their decisions.

A better use for the site would be to extend the size of EPIC. A couple of bridges or tunnels crossing Flemington Road would do the trick.

There is an infamous Angels song with a particular crowd call-back that provides the exact comment I wish to share with this stupidity.

The greens !!! Can they just go away

Davo can you see Darren’s comments

I can see that if the current ACT Govt and developers get their way, every square centimetre of this territory from Hall to Williamsdale will become housing of some form, thereby removing all green (aka empty non revenue generating) spaces.

The madness needs to stop and there needs to be a balance.

Oh and what cities is the Greens member referring to in her comments? It’s not enough to just say “cities”, please quote which ones, otherwise you lack credibility.

Rosehill in Sydney is being turned into 25000 houses as we speak

Being sold by the Sydney turf club, not forced by the nutty greens.

NO! NO! NO! STOP TRASHING CANBERRA!!! This is the BUSH CAPITAL not Sydney, not Melbourne, NOT AN ANTBED!!! Instead of selling the green open spaces to rancid developers FIX YOUR FAILURE TO KEEP CANBERRA SOLVENT!! This from the GREENS??? Yeah . Greens….

Bush Capital? Please, give it a rest.

And where do you expect people who work in Canberra to live? Cooma? The city is already spread out too far. That spread can’t go on forever. What happens at a million people? How far would the city have spread then? Hardly livable. Public transport doesn’t work as well for spread out cities; the roads would be so crowded they would be car parks, People on the edge would travel for hours to get to work. This might be your ideal city, but it isn’t mine.

So it goes the way of the Canberra International Dragway, blinkered politics.

Who wants a drag strip

Max Scheckenbac1:31 pm 10 Jan 24

Aahh the greens must gone to see their bank managers over the holidays to get investment loans.
Now they just need the cheaper land to finish their project as property investors….

I have always been of the opinion that a collaborative approach for the region in terms of a new race track could work well. Be it on ACT land or NSW land, a new combined capital racing club with Queanbeyan, under the racing NSW banner, could solve a lot of issues. Could open up Thoroughbred Park for a higher value use, could potentially open up the current Queanbeyan Race Club site for higher value use, and give both clubs a secure future at a brand new facility.

But collaboration is hard…

This is just the Greens trying to push two of their ideological barrows in one go.

Firstly the racing industry isn’t subsidised, the specific tax revenue from racing far outweighs the amount the govenment gives back.

Secondly, housing is already being planned for the site, so incorporating it in to the existing recreational facilities will enable better use of the open space areas whilst still maintaining the existing use.

Whilst we definitely need more housing density in the city areas, we cannot simply remove and replace existing greenspaces, recreational areas and community facilities to do so.

When you say “tax revenue from racing” do you refer to the wagering tax? Most of that relates to betting on competitions or events outside Canberra rather than on local horse racing.

Surely the justification for subsidy is much like that for Summernats or other sporting codes, an investment in total economic activity and employment as well as a bit of circus for some.

“Most of that relates to betting on competitions or events outside Canberra rather than on local horse racing.”

Which is an error because the entire Australian industry operates together to provide the product and drives the revenue. Whilst there is definitely rationalisation that could occur within the industry itself (ie. JS9’s suggestion of joining Canberra and Queanbeyan courses), the idea put forward by some that removing local connections wouldn’t hurt taxation revenue is wrong. The Australian racing industry doesn’t abide by state boundaries and locals won’t continue to wager or be involved to the same levels once local industry connections and social links are lost.

As to your other point, yes similar justification exists as for funding other recreational pursuits. And you won’t ever hear the Greens calling for the removal of subsidisation in areas like the arts.

So you confirm the reality of what I said before diverging to disagree with something nobody said, then agree with what I said before diverging to attack somebody else for not saying something else that nobody said.

If The Chaser or Betoota Advocate wanted to satirize you, they could employ you to write the script.

Charmaine,
no I don’t agree with your point, unless you are simply trying to raise a meaningless fact that doesn’t consider wider industry effects, economic impacts and the drivers of the revenue created by racing.

But what would be the point of that except to be used as a red herring?

Although yes, I apologise that I have jumped ahead to points not raised by you. Mainly because this issue has been raised and discussed repeatedly here, usually in respect to the ICRC report that was conducted assessing the exact issue(s) you raise.

Richard Bennett10:35 pm 10 Jan 24

You are correct …its a green question all around Australia…but half of these exponents have rental properties and are increasing rents

Unless trends have rapidly changed in the last handful of years (not having seen data for a fair while), no Canberra racing product would probably not really change ACT taxation receipts much at all. Whether it would see a drop off in wagering behaviour is another question – but when I last saw the data, ACT revenue from betting on Canberra racing product was well below <10% of total revenue.

There would be some effect – but I'm far from convinced it would be substantial. Yes it does operate as a national industry in some ways, but I doubt there are too many out there, living in Canberra, that only have a punt because there is a Canberra Racing Club, or a Canberra Harness Racing Club in operation.

Some sure – but significant in the grand scheme? Not so sure. Especially when there would be a substitution effect (i.e. something else would replace Canberra racing on the calendar). In general, most punt on a wide variety of races from a wide variety of locations.

The direct economic impacts from lost jobs etc would likely be far more significant than the impact on taxation revenue imho.

JS9,
There are both substitution and complementary effects of gambling on racing between codes and jurisdictions.

Of course if you only shut down the Canberra racecourse, there would be little immediate impact on wagering revenue.

But it’s myopic to not recognise the wider impacts of what would basically be an outsourcing of costs to other jurisdictions. What’s to stop other jurisdictions doing exactly the same thing or charging higher fees back to the ACT Government in the long run? The claimed “subsidy” isn’t what people like the Greens say it is in reality.

On the product side, all jurisdictions are inherently linked with smaller areas feeding into the bigger metropolitan markets. The service industries involved in racing get economies of scale from this. Removing smaller markets impacts the costs, delivery and quality of the racing product overall. As I’ve said, and you’ve raised above, rationalisation in the industry of venues and product could definitely occur to find an optimal level, but that’s not even a consideration here.

On the customer and revenue side, people don’t just decide one day to gamble on racing, they do so because of a connection to the industry and the social and community aspects over years and decades. Remove those connections and over time, the wagering revenue dies as new customers aren’t exposed to the local industry.

Now of course, that revenue may be substituted by other gambling revenue such as sports, casinos, lotteries, pokies etc but unlikely to be to the same level and often has other issues around taxation.

And as you also have raised, that means a significant loss of jobs from the service industries that support the various racing codes that are much more intensive than other gambling products.

We need more housing but we don’t necessarily need a horse race track. Building homes should take priority. However having said that, it’s more likely overly priced flats that most people can’t afford will be built instead and homelessness will continue to rise.

“Special Minister of State Chris Steel” Makes him sound like Henry Kissinger or Madeline Albright, but he’s actually Mr ineffectual. So the Greens most likely will get their way

It’s a joke isn’t it, especially given the amount of OUR money he wasted on the HR program.

Will there be anything fun left if the killjoy Greens get their way? Not that I am a racing fan, but many are.
Once all the concrete towers are built, what are people going to do?
The Greens fail to realise that we don’t all want to live in poverty, eating tofu and mung beans, drinking chai, reading feminist doctrine and riding our bikes everywhere and fretting about a climate armageddon that may or may not occur.
Thankfully, most of society are no longer religious and trapped in the profound guilt about anything enjoyable that faith demanded. Unfortunately, the Greens seem hell-bent of recreating just that.
Get a life and have some fun!!!

Capital Retro9:29 am 10 Jan 24

“Once all the concrete towers are built, what are people going to do?”

The ones trapped in elevators when the power fails will die.

Wow that turned into a rant… perhaps stay on point?

Last I checked racecourses were endangered.
Greens doing labour dirtywork.
Greens and labour calculated hand in hand to maximise votes they’re both working together but presenting different options.

Land is everywhere. Why not build up.

Unfortunately we’re going to have to build upwards. Since 2006 I’ve noticed any spare bit of land is being used for development. The local government wants people to move and work in the ACT but it’s too small and we’re running out of room.

William Newby9:45 pm 09 Jan 24

There is land everywhere, why destroy existing sporting complex’s to build more social housing?

Because there isn’t enough land to build on really. The ACT is too small and we need to keep our green space for the sake of the environment. Also, speaking from experience…we need space for the sake of space. It’s not good to ‘fill up every vacant nook and cranny’.

“sporting” is a long bow to draw. A sizable parcel of land on the edge of the city – turn it into new housing centred around green space and an oval – there’s your sporting complex

On the contrary, there is an abundance of land. Everywhere you look in this city you will see bland tracts of unremarkable grasslands, shut off from any opportunity for development by bizarre notions of conservation, in the most inefficient use of land of any jurisdiction on the planet.

Who, in their right mind, would want to across the road from EPIC?
I moved from Knox St. to Weston years ago to get away from the place.

You can bet whoever moves there will then complain about Summernats.

It’s been many years since I’ve agreed with the Greens about anything (although I used to vote Greens before they went over to the elitist ruse of identity politics — oh, and also as my views broadened and matured).

Yep, they’re right — the racecourse uses a huge area that used to be on the edge of town and is now inner suburbs. Sell it off for residential development and use the funds for a new racetrack complex further out. Also, develop all the surrounding grass paddocks. It’s a city, not a farm.

Capital Retro7:03 am 10 Jan 24

The existing grass paddocks there can handle the natural water flow but take that away and replace it with bitumen and concrete and we will end up with another Lismore.

Set the hyperbole level to 300 today have you CR. Didn’t know there was a massive Wilsons River equivalent stream in that part of town.

No doubt stormwater management is important, but come on – a bit of sense please.

Capital Retro4:06 pm 10 Jan 24

Fair comment. In fact, I meant Woden where the flash flood swept a number of people to their deaths about 40 years ago. I was focused on another thread which was about Lismore.

Thank you for your good manners. Some of the other “Let’s pile-on CR team” should take note.

This is *Part* of the overall conversation of the redevelopment of EPIC – which has a large number of stakeholders to be consulted (and appeased). EPIC as a result would have to be relocated
– I would presume space at Hume (near the jail), with appropriate traffic options to cater for car parking, events (canberra show, SummerNats, Cancon, dog shows, etc.). I dont think it woudl be an easy job.

Gregg Heldon9:06 am 10 Jan 24

And the Greyhound track has been sitting empty for how long? Being in between the Monaro Hwy and Jerrabomberra Ave, it could be redeveloped into a fantastic sporting precinct.
Indoor and outdoor basketball and/or netball courts. A 12/15000 seat box football (rugby union/league and soccer) stadium.
Several options.

Racing is *part* of the overall EPIC site, and hence before you remove it and put houses there you need to offer replacement options to all stakeholders in the facility which has served the Canberra community for over 50 years. Including the royal agricultural society who I believe have controlling interest in it….

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