No matter what you think of the decision to ban greyhound racing in New South Wales from July next year, there’s one thing you can be sure of: Mike Baird has plenty of guts.
The Premier made the difficult decision despite knowing it could be politically fatal to him in rural New South Wales, which will be hit hardest by the decision.
It’s not the first time that Mr Baird has shown strong leadership to tackle a difficult issue.
He of course introduced the controversial lock-out laws in Sydney, which like the greyhound shutdown was called a knee-jerk reaction by critics, and a necessary evil by supporters.
As much as Mr Baird may be losing popularity in some quarters by decisions such as the lock-out laws and greyhound shutdown, he’s actually doing what we’ve desperately wanted politicians to do for some time – showing strong leadership and making difficult decisions that he believes have the state’s best long-term interests at heart.
Nobody can deny that the report on ABC’s ‘Four Corners’ program last year, which revealed the vile practice of live baiting of greyhounds, exposed a dark side of an industry that most day-to-day people don’t know much about.
For most the greyhounds are something they only see on a TV in the back of the pub on a Friday night; their popularity is limited to a core group of mostly older supporters who grew up when the ‘dishlickers’ were part of Sydney’s culture and social fabric.
For the punter who throws a few dollars on the greyhounds every now and again, Mr Baird’s decision will have little long-term impact. Not only will other states continue to run greyhound racing, but I can assure you that Sky Racing will find plenty of other content to fill the gaps.
It is those people who do the right thing in the industry that most people, including myself, feel sorry for.
These owners and trainers travel around the state to races for prize money that sometimes equals only a few hundred dollars.
Greyhound racing has never been about the money, for most in the industry it is a livelihood albeit a modest one.
For towns like Dapto, it is the glue that holds the community together.
But as much as I feel sorry for those who do the right thing, and for those who put food on the table thanks to greyhound racing, there is a feeling in all of this that we need to grow up.
Putting eight dogs into boxes and having them chase a fake rabbit around a track for 500 or so metres just doesn’t cut it in 2016, especially when behind the scenes there’s a much darker story to be told.
I hate over-regulation and political correctness as much as the next sensible person, but the facts speak for themselves in this regard.
Between 48,000 and 68,000 greyhounds – or at least half of all greyhounds bred to race – were killed in the past 12 years because they were deemed uncompetitive.
Up to 20 per cent of trainers engage in live baiting and 180 greyhounds a year sustain “catastrophic injuries” during races, such as skull fractures and broken backs that resulted in their immediate deaths.
We just can’t stand by and let that continue to happen.
Around the world, bans on greyhound racing have become the norm. In the United States, commercial dog racing is banned in 40 states.
As much as the greyhound industry will present its argument on job losses and its own efforts to reform the sport, the figures show that the industry is beyond repair.
By the time the shutdown happens and the full impact is felt, Mr Baird will be preparing for the 2019 election, which may well become a referendum on this issue as well as the lock-out laws.
He has taken a giant political gamble, which he should be applauded for.
I dare say that Luke Foley’s decision to oppose the greyhound racing ban is equally a gamble and significant risk.
This could get very messy.
Originally published in The Western Weekender