Greyhound Racing in New Zealand.
In 20 months time it won’t exist at all.
Then they will come for the gallops and trots.
It’s the safest bet of the year.
Veteran Kiwi politician Damian O’Connor is a racing man through and through, and is certainly no bleeding heart greenie.
What he had to say to Parliament yesterday is a prescient warning.
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Labour): Mr Speaker, thank you very much. I’ll just take the opportunity to say a few words on a bill that has been a long-time coming. As a former Minister for Racing, I want to acknowledge the current Minister, who’s taking this bill through—one of two bills, I understand; this is to protect, I guess, the welfare of sentient animals.
These animals involved in the greyhound industry and the racing, the greyhounds themselves, have been bred to race with good intent by owners and people who have been part of an industry that has quite a history. We have to acknowledge them; they’ve worked within the law. But they’ve seen this coming, and the social licence to continue, I think, has been pushing up against it for a number of reasons—the injuries in particular. While there have been trials—and I, as Minister, visited the greyhound tracks and saw some of the, I guess, challenges that have been there—ultimately, the call to close this down is quite a tough one; it’s the right one. I acknowledge the Minister. We’ve just got to make sure that we, in this bill, deal with the sentient animals who want to race, who like to race, and now won’t be able to, so we’ve got to make sure that they have a good life.
But for those people involved in the industry, we also have to acknowledge that they’ve committed themselves, their livelihoods, you know, their incomes, taking a chance—the racing industry is not an easy one to be involved in, but it’s been part of our heritage. It’s been part of the communities around New Zealand—less so greyhound. But there is a lesson in here for the horse racing industry: to make sure that we do everything we can to look after the animals and give them a good life.
To finish off, I acknowledge the decision by this Government to do the right thing, and we in Opposition will support that. Kia ora.