The greyhound racing ban

Winston Peters announced:

Cabinet has formally agreed this week to the closure of the greyhound racing industry in New Zealand.

A bill will be drafted to bring this decision into law. The move follows last December’s announcement of the Government’s in-principle decision to end greyhound racing as of 31 July 2026.

The decision was made following ongoing concerns about animal welfare and three reviews of the industry (2013, 2017, 2021) which all outlined significant safety issues.

Cabinet also agreed in full to the recommendations contained in an interim report of the Ministerial Advisory Committee – set up to plan the transition away from greyhound racing

When this decision was first announced last year, I instinctively thought it was a good decision. Part of what convinced me is that Winston was backing it, as it is known he has been a racing industry advocate. But as I have been involved with some research in this area, I have been alarmed by many of the details I have learnt about this decision.

I still personally back the in principle decision on the grounds of animal welfare. So this post is not arguing against that. But the way it is being done, and the hypocrisy is something people should feel uncomfortable with.

Here’s four things you may not know.

1. While this will end greyhound racing in NZ, the Government will still allow the TAB to take bets from Kiwis on 46,000 greyhound races a year in Australia. Even worse they will pocket tax on that betting, and hand the profits from the gambling to the NZ horse racing industry. This helps explains why Winston is supporting it – this is a massive income boost for the horse racing industry. My view is that if greyhound racing is truly so terrible for greyhound welfare, then the government should not be making money by allowing betting on Australian races, let alone earning tax revenue from it.
2. The period between a law being passed to end greyhound racing and the proposed end date of 31 July 2026 could be as little as three months. That is outrageously short for the over 1,000 or so people who will lose their jobs and the many trainers who have to close down their entire operations.
3. The Government will not pay any compensation to organisations that have been operating a sport that has been legal for 150 years, and has invested huge amounts into infrastructure and training.
4. The Government is proposing to confiscate the assets of Greyhound Racing New Zealand (a private industry body) and transfer them to a new government entity

A principled approach to this issue would be:

1. Have the end date for greyhound racing to be say two years after the law change
2. Either ban all greyhound racing gambling, or have any proceeds from gambling on Australian races go to NZ animal welfare charities rather than the horse racing industry
3. Have a modest amount of funding for compensation and transition support to the 1,000+ people who will be losing their jobs solely due to a government law change
4. Don’t steal the assets of Greyhound Racing NZ.