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Victorian harness racing’s kindred bodies say “transformational change” is urgently needed for the industry to manage its way out of its current crisis.
Harness racing participants are struggling with the fallout of October’s deep cuts to stakemoney, but after a meeting with Harness Racing Victoria last week, representative bodies are increasingly concerned that HRV is considering further cuts to stakemoney to address the industry’s parlous financial state.
“As an industry we are in real trouble, living beyond our means and reliant on government financial support. We need urgent transformational change to adapt to the current situation that the industry finds itself in,” Victorian Harness Racing Club (VHRC) Treasurer Shane Gloury said.
“The kindred bodies were advised that despite $3.9M in stakemoney cuts and a further $6M in operating savings announced by HRV last August, that HRV is still incurring large financial losses,” he said.
“The State Government is still providing significant financial support to HRV but has advised that financial support will be scaled back to nil over the next two years, at which time HRV will need to operate within its own financial means.
“There is still a multi-million dollar shortfall in the industry’s finances that needs to be addressed over the next two years. We desperately need growth in revenue and corresponding reductions in operating and administration expenditure. The cutting of stakes should always be an absolute last resort for HRV.”
Representatives from the VHRC, the Victorian Square Trotters Association, Trots Clubs Victoria, and the Victorian Harness Racing Trainers and Drivers Association all emerged from the meeting with HRV alarmed at the scope of the industry crisis.
“We need urgent transformational change to avoid further cuts in stakes over the next two years,” Gloury said.
Gloury, who was formerly employed as the Chief Financial Officer amongst other Senior Management roles at HRV, believes that HRV needs to urgently look at a range of initiatives to address the significant financial challenges confronting the industry.
“Firstly, HRV needs to critically review why it has twice as many staff as HRNSW which is costing the Victorian Industry an additional $8.6M,” he said.
“It also needs to urgently review the extra $5.3M in Vision, Marketing, Media and Consulting costs that HRV incurs over and above what HRNSW spends on these items. There is $14.1M in additional head count and operating expenses amongst these items alone at HRV compared to HRNSW.
“Secondly the racing calendar needs to be restructured to deliver positive wagering growth for the benefit of the industry. We also need to look at enhancing our racing product and ensure that we deliver optimum field sizes wherever possible to maximise wagering revenues and Industry returns.
“Other operational efficiencies also need to be explored including the possibility of a shared service model between the codes similar to RWWA or Racing Queensland or whether the administration could function remotely without the need for an administration office across two floors in Flemington.
“We need transformational change and quickly to avoid further cuts in stakes over the next two years.”
In recent weeks, the kindred bodies have been circulating a petition amongst industry stakeholders and participants calling on the Racing Minister in Victoria to refresh the Board of HRV. The bodies want the Minister to appoint people with significant harness racing experience and skill sets needed to drive a desperately-needed industry recovery in this State.
Gloury explained that there are currently two vacancies on the Board of HRV and a further two or three vacancies will arise when the terms of existing Board Members expire in coming months.
“We are calling on the Racing Minister to appoint people from within the industry with the necessary skills and the appetite required to drive the change that is needed – to ensure that we have a viable harness racing Industry in this State in 10 and 20 years’ time.
“There has been huge support from industry participants to the petition. Industry stakeholders are understandably concerned about the current state of harness racing in Victoria and almost unanimously are supporting the kindred bodies’ calls for change.
“The petition sheets are currently being returned from all over the State and are still coming in, but we believe that we have somewhere around 1,500 signatures in support of the petition.”
The kindred bodies will be meeting with the Racing Minster in the next week or two to deliver the hundreds of signed petition sheets and to discuss their concerns about the state of the industry and the future of Harness Racing in Victoria.
