Taxpayer
Funding

State government funding is not linked to performance, revenue earned or animal welfare considerations yet it amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars every year. And voters do not get a say.

And this is all taxpayer money that could be spent on fixing roads, healthcare, education, aged care and other areas that are critical to the entire community.

Taxpayer money is used to artificially inflate prize money, pay breeding incentives, prop up financially failing clubs and build unwanted racetracks. There is very little welfare oversight of the industry that receives all this financial support.

Mainstream economists such as Tasmania’s Saul Eslake generally regard subsidies like this as a waste of government funds. The exceptions are where an industry provides a critical social benefit eg healthcare. Or where the industry is particularly vulnerable like agriculture with its exposure to the impact of weather and climate.

It is hard to argue that the animal racing industry fits this definition.

Given the dramatic reduction in racetrack attendance there is virtually no money made through community engagement. People are not interested in seeing dogs maimed and possibly killed.