When Felix Ellis became Racing Minister, I said he could not be any worse than his predecessor.
I did hope he would be better.
But so far he is displaying the same level of disinterest as Madeleine Ogilvie did.
The racing community is desperate for the Murrihy Review to be released. Minister Ellis has now had the review for more than three weeks. Since then his Director of Racing has disappeared – just weeks after having been reappointed. Minister Ellis has still made no comment.
On Wednesday next week Burnie will host a meeting where an extraordinary 52 out of 75 runners will come from the Yole stable. The problems that triggered the review in the first place are getting worse.
The current situation is driving participants out of harness racing with yet another participant declaring they will leave the code this week. By the time Felix Ellis and the Liberals have finished doing nothing we will be a state with one harness trainer.
Minister Ellis cannot simply hide and hope this goes away. We are about to start the most important two months of the Tasmanian Racing season with Tasmania bursting with its racing features across Hobart, Launceston, Devonport, Longford, St Mary’s, Scottsdale, Carrick and King Island.
The best disinfectant for the Office of Racing Integrity is sunlight. The industry deserves to know the extent to which they have been let down. The failings of ORI need to be understood, discussed and learned from.
During scruitiny, Felix Ellis said he would release the full report in ‘weeks’. Time is up. Release the report and let’s get on with fixing the problems.
Dean Winter MP
Shadow Minister for Racing
