20 minutes with the NZ Racing Minister | Hon Kieran McAnulty

Getting cut through with Government officials is something easier said than done, so it came as some surprise when Harnesslink received a response from the desk for the Minister of Racing.

McAnulty had reached out and suggested he would like to make some time available for a discussion around the recently acquired portfolio.

Since being announced as the Minister of Racing in June, the Hon Kieran McAnulty has had a busy time of things, in particular the emergency response to the devastating flooding in the Nelson and Marlborough regions which fall under his other portfolio as Minister of Emergency Management.

Regardless of what side of the political spectrum you sit on, after 20 minutes on the phone with the Minister, I think anyone who cares about the industry would realise the same thing.

McAnulty is a relatable, grassroots type of a bloke with a deep understanding of racing and a genuine desire and commitment to seeing the industry succeed.

You’ve heard it all before I can hear you say.

We’ve all seen a lot of racing ministers come and go, each with enough political nous to get in front of the occasional audience and say the right things.

The fact of the matter is, that this is undeniably the first racing minister with hands-on experience from within the industry with McAnulty, a former bookmaker, having worked for with the TAB for close to seven years.

He also has family involvement with relatives running retail TAB outlets and his mother working the tote on course for over 30 years.

Up until his election to Parliament he was a volunteer firefighter. Kieran is also a former trustee of the Masterton Community Trust, has served on the boards for Wings over Wairarapa and Golden Shears and is a fanatic Wairarapa-Bush supporter.

* Over the next few weeks and months, Harnesslink will be speaking with the racing spokespeople from the other major political parties to give them the opportunity to convey their thoughts a year out from the election.

We don’t intend to portray any political leaning or bias and will produce a verbatim transcript of our conversations for complete transparency. Our mission is to keep you informed and make sure the voice of Harness Racing and the sector of racing, in general, is being heard!

Thanks for your time, Minister, you recently stated the Racing Portfolio was one that you wanted, can you explain why that was?

“It’s an industry that I am passionate about and I’m conscious that there are people out there who question the need for it. I’m very firm in the view there is a need for the racing portfolio, and I think going back in the past it’s been seen as an oversight and possibly seen as the last card of the deck that was handed out. I just don’t see it that way, I see it as crucially important.

“It’s a significant contributor to the economy, just as much as the fishing industry, and nobody is questioning the existence of the fisheries minister. I just wanted the opportunity to give the racing industry a staunch advocate in the executive and take the chance that comes with that at a government level that sets it up for the future, because there are a lot of challenges facing the industry.”

We will touch on some of those issues shortly, but what is it about the racing industry that you enjoy the most and how do we share those experiences with the wider community?

“There wouldn’t be a district in the country that doesn’t have people who participate in the racing industry. I love the people that are involved in the sport of racing, they are genuine, decent, hardworking people who want to see it do well and that really appeals to me.

“Anyone who has been involved knows this feeling. Once you have been bitten by the racing bug, you can’t get rid of it. For me, I think back to an old saying here in New Zealand where we had three national past times of ‘racing, rugby, and beer’. Racing has fallen back some ways out of that picture, but it doesn’t have to always be that way. I know New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing has stated one of its goals is for racing to become New Zealand’s national sport, and I would love that to be the case. But we have a lot of work to do for that to hold true.”

I know you have a family background with thoroughbreds and even own a retired greyhound, but do you have any experience with Harness Racing specifically?

“Yes, I have always enjoyed Harness Racing. Going down to Christchurch and Addington for Cup Week is an experience that I would encourage anyone to take up. What I love about Harness Racing is that it’s a lot easier to get into and not as exclusive if you like.

“It’s a lot more affordable to become an owner, it’s a lot easier to become a participant and that’s what really appeals to me, is that you can get the love of racing without some of the barriers that the public might think to exist elsewhere. It’s not to say you can’t get involved in thoroughbreds, it’s just a lot harder. It doesn’t have to be that way, but as it currently stands, that’s something that appeals to me.

“Raising awareness of the opportunities that syndicates offer people is one of the solutions to some of the concerns we have about ownership and growing the industry, we are going to be nowhere if we don’t grow the number of people with shares in horses.

I understand that Racing NZ and the TAB have been talking with the previous Minister of Racing regarding geofencing New Zealand for wagering. Given this is costing our industry and our participants a billion dollars a year in lost turnover with people betting offshore, is this something you are giving priority to doing?

“That issue actually falls within the remit of the Minister of Internal Affairs because that is gambling policy. So, whilst I have oversight of the racing industry, the honourable Jan Tinetti has oversight of the laws of gambling.

“From the outset, I have said any conversations about this policy we have to do this together. Whenever we would meet with stakeholders who wish to talk about it, we will do it together because it is equally important across both our portfolios. The rules around online gambling is something we are both putting a lot of thought into at the moment and a lot of work into.

“If we go back to when sports betting was permitted in this country, the rules around that and the structure of funding sporting bodies and funding the racing codes, essentially the monopoly the TAB had was done for a very specific purpose because we wanted to ensure the long term sustainability of funding the industry. For a long time that worked really well, but what has thrown that out of kilt is the onset of online gambling. Unregulated, overseas-based operators pilfering the money that would otherwise be invested into our industry. What the solution is what we are looking into now.

“Even though this government brought in the race fields legislation so that offshore operators who are taking wagering on the New Zealand racing product must provide a contribution back to the codes, they still don’t have the same costs and requirements on them that the TAB does. The TAB exists to provide funding to the racing and sporting codes. But the TAB also have a strong requirement of them around harm minimization which we know is important. They also fund the RIB which is also very important. Those other operators don’t have those requirements which mean the NZ TAB will always struggle to compete on pricing because the overseas operators don’t have those overheads.

“The TAB is also limited on the scope of products they can offer going back to the legislation that was put in when we brought in sports betting, so they are limited in that respect as well. From memory 1995 or 1996 was when that legislation was written and for a long time it served us well, but there are significant changes that need to occur to better reflect the changes that have occurred in the market.

The Hon Grant Robertson started the move to improve this legislation and now we are going to see it through. In fairness to Mr Robertson, I know he took the portfolio really seriously. I know there would be detractors who would say he was distracted because he was the minister of finance. I just point out that if the government didn’t take racing seriously, they would have just combined it with the sports portfolio, and we would have never seen a racing mister again which is the case in several countries around the world.

As you have stated with me and elsewhere, the racing industry contributes by and large the same amount to the New Zealand economy as the fishing industry. A recent aquaculture study in 2022 highlighted 25 areas in which the government is going to invest resources and funding with an aim to achieve three billion dollars of annual revenue by 2030.

Our breeding and racing sectors are struggling to compete with state government support being provided to our neighbouring Australian jurisdictions. Racing employs 14,000 tax-paying citizens and has an estimated 60,000 participants either directly or indirectly.

Is it a failing of our industry that we haven’t had the same sort of cut-through in regards to government support and how do we go about achieving that in the future?

“Everything you just outlined I don’t think the general public would have any idea about. I can say for a matter of fact that the government does, and that’s why it is willing to bring in measures that will help to preserve the funding model that we have got for racing. But the racing industry needs to probably do a better job of telling its story.

“If I go to anyone on the street and tell them the racing industry contributes just as much as the fishing industry to the economy, first of all, they would be surprised. Secondly, they won’t know what I mean by that. They will just assume that it’s because of the amount of money generated through wagering or that it is a domestic contribution. That’s not the case, it’s a primary export industry. We have some of the best breeders producing the best bloodstock in the world and other countries have a demand for our product.

“The reality is that we can’t sell those products unless we have a stage for which to promote them and that’s our domestic racing industry. That’s why it’s important we get things right here to make it sustainable.

“I think that generally, the approach should be that any proposal will be considered with no promises. If the industry comes forward with a compelling proposition, I think that it would definitely be considered from an economic development perspective.

“In saying that, it would have to be a compelling case because there is no shortage of industries that are performing well, that are organized, that people understand without question their contribution to the New Zealand economy and the benefits of direct government support.

“The racing industry would need to get together and start to think about a creative way where the government could help the industry without it being seen as a direct subsidy. I don’t think anyone actually wants that.

“But when you think about the fact that we are considering making changes to the law that can preserve the funding structure that we have through the TAB, that shows frankly that the government is taking it seriously and wanting to do something to support it. There wouldn’t be many other industries where the government is considering making changes to the law to give it a competitive advantage against overseas competitors so that in itself is actually quite significant.”

In that case, have you had any dialogue from Harness Racing New Zealand officials or a request to meet to discuss some of the issues we are facing?

“I haven’t had an opportunity to meet with HRNZ, but I am getting through the key stakeholders, and in the very first meeting that I had with my team, I said that I want to meet with bodies from each of the codes.

I am balancing that out with my responsibilities with the other portfolios at the moment and have been on course a couple of times. I’m keen to continue that and obviously have further dialogue with the respective codes.”

In a co-governance environment and a left-leaning government with the likes of Chloe Swarbrick a heavy advocate for the banning of greyhound racing, how important is animal welfare in your views, and what does it mean for our social license to operate?

“The issues around our social license and animal welfare are not unique to the greyhound industry, all three are linked and bound to their obligations to be industry leaders in those spheres. You will get nowhere if you lose your social license, and the broader industry is at risk of that if one member isn’t pulling its weight. I’ve been upfront with the industry and told them I have zero desire to see the greyhound industry banned but in the same breath, don’t force my hand. They have made some progress but there are still areas where they need to step up.

What are the channels of communication for industry participants seeking to contact you on industry issues and can they share their concerns with you if they feel their voice isn’t being heard by a governing body?

“Anyone that has an interest in racing is welcome to contact me, to send me an email, and all correspondence will be considered and replied to. I’m keen to hear from the participants, there is no shortage of ideas, and that is what I love about the industry. People are passionate, and enthusiastic and want to see the industry thriving.

“From an operational point of view, it must be said any racing minister is prohibited by law from interfering from an operation point of view. If somebody comes with a complaint about something the governing body has done, I can’t interfere, and the response will outline that. But if anybody has any ideas, I want to hear from them.

Ends.

The one thing the racing industry would commonly agree upon would be the desire to see the person responsible for our sector taking the issues we face seriously. Actions will no doubt speak louder than words, and with an election less than a year away, time is not going to be the friend of McAnulty.

We thank him for the opportunity and have agreed to catch up again in a few months’ time to discuss his progress, 15-20 minutes isn’t much time to get through the pressing issues, and will endeavour to cover more ground next time.

The Hon Kieran McAnulty can be contacted by email: k.mcanulty@ministers.govt.nz

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink